Another skier triggered; 07/12/05 Monashees Mountains, near Mica
1 x size 2 Sa, Slab, Dry, incl.29degr. N aspect, 1730m, 80cm thick, 15m
wide, 110m long, beds - FC, layer - SH Jan 24th.
"Group of 5 guides where doing tobogganing practice in steep treed
terrain. We had just done 3 lowers and had packed up the rope. Two
people skied away with the toboggan and out of site. The others and
myself where getting our skis on and I skied away first, traversed to
the left about 10m to go around a group of small trees, at this point
the slope released. The slab took my skis out from under me and I yelled
avalanche. I was able to pivot my feet under me and stand up and semi
ski or ride the avalanche to the deposit. 1 caught, partially buried,
non critical. The avalanche was 15m wide, 80cm thick, and 110m long and
ran on the Nov.24 SH. The glade had 2 gullies that run into the top of
it and they had both previously run during the storm. The pocket between
them had not previously failed."
---Original Message-----
From: mcr-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:mcr-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Public Mountain Conditions Report
Sent: December 6, 2007 12:03 AM
To: mcr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [MCR] skier triggered avalanches in the monashees
In one part of the Monashees,(North of the Trans Canada highway, west of
the
Perry River and East of the Anstey Arm.)the last few days warm storms
have left
50- 70 cms snow at treeline above the November 24th snow surface. This
surface
is a crust on southerly aspects and a variety of cold snow grains on
shaded
slopes. They are all potentially reactive to skiers. It is impossible at
this
point to say when the potential for skier triggering will decrease, but
it will
certainly be my main concern for the next few days at least. This layer
is deep
enough and widespread enough that it can produce LARGE avalanches.
As an example, today I ski cut, on purpose, a small slope at 2100m that
produced
an avalanche 50cms deep by 10m wide. The failure propogated for 300m
from a SE
to a NE aspect and produced a class 3 avalanche. We also had numerous
natural
avalanches up to size 2.5 in the past two days. The skiing was good
today but we
will be skiing simple moderate angle terrain far away from big alpine
faces
until we feel confident conditions have improved.
Emjoy the potential good weather this weekend but be nervous, very very
nervous.
Larry Stanier
Mountain Guide
_______________________________________________
These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted
them. The ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors,
omissions, or lapses in continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time
and space due to the variable nature of mountain weather and terrain.
Application of this information provides no guarantee of increased
safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions Report as the sole factor in
planning trips or making decisions in the field.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
_______________________________________________
These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The
ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in
continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable
nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information
provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions
Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
|