Grizzly Couloir

Quick report

Laurent G. Saulnier · Jan 19, 2021 · Glacier

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Quick report

Weather
windy, cloudy
Ride Type
alpineSlopes, mellowSlopes, convexSlopes, steepSlopes, openTrees
Riding Quality
Good
Snow Conditions
windAffected, powder

Strong W winds during the climb on the S face. Snow felt solid with enough penetration to skin all the way to the ridge. Snow in the couloir was compacted from wind and previous tracks, but still had nice soft pockets on the more sheltered side (skier's right). We were wary of wind slabs in the lower portion of the couloir and in the bowl. We triggered a small isolated wind slab ~5cm deep just skiers right exiting the couloir, probably created by today's winds. We observed debris from an avalanche that started above the cliffs from the E side of the ridge ~2500m to ~2100m, into the S part of the bowl, probably from the last 24h from recent wind loading. We rode the ridge in the middle of the bowl, keeping skier's right on the more windward side of it, just outside of the debris. Great snow quality. Buried debris were hard to avoid in the bottom of the bowl ~1800m. The gulley to Connaught creek rode well with great snow and no debris.