Today offered another wonderful opportunity to have a look at conditions and any changes in the mountains. The skies were mostly clear so I spent the day on safe terrain while travelling to different aspects in order to have a look.
The most noteworthy observations were some old avalanches (only 2 - 4 days ago, approximately) that had run both naturally and/or with explosive charges and had released deeply on that sugary snow (facets) above the early-December crust. Some of the depths were 1.2m or more! Many of the old avalanches in the alpine regions had one or more of the following features associated with them:
- rocky
- steep
- shallow spots as trigger points
The most interesting feature associated with much of the avalanche activity of late is that they've been occuring on ALL aspects.
The snowpack above the weak facets has become quite dense and this makes for more destructive avalanches should the slope be triggered.
This was the first day of a forecasted series of progressively warmer days ahead. It was plus 7.5 degrees Celsius at treeline elevations this afternoon!! Such a trend is very stressful to the snowpack and so the avalanche hazard will climb during these warming periods. Please use extra caution.
I also wanted to make note of something that is really important. Avalanche research has evolved to include how we humans make decisons out there in the backcountry and some interesting insights have been uncovered. There are many ways in which we choose to make a decision and very often we do so because of certain biases. One of these biases, as it relates to avalanche safety, is the idea that if we see a particular slope has been skied that it must then be okay to go there ourselves....despite the fact that the slope is one we may suspect or may not suspect is hazardous. My point is: please don't find yourself being lead into the kinds of slopes with the above noted terrain features that we've been discussing here simply because there are a set of someone else's ski or snowmobile tracks there! Like we've discussed, the key to triggering a very destructive avalanche right now is finding that sweet spot. And the sweet spots are there....and many slopes currently continue to have the potential for big releases.
Please continue to make safe travel choices by choosing terrain without exposure to avalanches.....
Enjoy the mountains safely,
Dale Marcoux
Assistant Ski Guide
ACMG Member