remotely triggered two size 3 avalanches simultaneously. From the broad
flat summit of Tom George Mountain, a whumpf dropped a 300 m wide and 1
m thick piece of cornice onto the East flank of Tom George Mountain. We
heard prolonged thunder, but it took us a while to safely get to the
edge and get a view. The avalanche had run far out onto the plateau.
Then we found out that the fracture had pulled around the NE ridge of
Tom George Mountain and released the entire North Bowl. Many of you know
those lines. Today, they would have been deadly. We found some old,
entirely degraded, but discernible surface hoar on the bed surface. The
snow that released was storm snow. It blew fairly hard at ridgetops the
last few days.
Yesterday we skied through Polemic Pass, which means travelling on some
very steep and exposed south facing alpine terrain. All of this had
released on the 13th in a widespread avalanche cycle, so we felt
entirely confident. Today's avalanches released on steep terrain, but
fractured into and pulled down some fairly moderate angle sections.
Right now, the good skiing is on cold northerly aspects as the sun has
been on the southerly and southwesterly ones. It would be good to avoid
even moderately steep windloaded terrain in those aspects that has not
released in the last cycle, even if that means skiing suncrust.Poor
skiing beats getting killed any day.
--
Christoph Dietzfelbinger
IFMGA/ UIAGM Mountain Guide - Bear Mountaineering and the Burnie Glacier Chalet
Box 4222 Smithers, B.C. V0J 2N0 Canada
tel. 250-847-3351/ fax 250-847-2854
info@bearmountaineering.ca www.bearmountaineering.ca
_______________________________________________
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.