Cerise Creek and Matier Glacier
Quick reportJustin Partridge · Feb 16, 2024 · Duffey
Quick report
- Weather
- sunny
- Ride Type
- alpineSlopes, mellowSlopes, steepSlopes, sunnySlopes
- Riding Quality
- ok
- Snow Conditions
- crusty, hard, powder, windAffected
- Avalanche Conditions
- avalancheConditionSlab
We took a trip up the Aussie Couloir via Cerise Creek and found all types of conditions. The approach is predictably thin below the hut and we walked out the last bit of forest between the slide path and the parking area. Snow in sheltered areas low on Anniversary Gl. and below Motel 66 was beautiful boot-top soft snow. The Matier glacier and Aussie couloir were wind-hammered, Matier N ridge looked icy. Of note, the bergschrund below Matier's NW face is filled in. We saw numerous small slides on sunny slopes in the afternoon but all were surface snow that ran quite far. We triggered a slide on a small feature below Aussie (see pictures) that deserves more description - see the Avalanch section.
Avalanche
- Run Length
- 10
- Slab Width
- 10
- Trigger Type
- skier
- Wind Exposure
- downFlow
- Avalanche Size
- 1
- Slab Thickness
- 50
- Trigger Sub Type
- accidental
- Start Zone Aspect
- SW
- Start Zone Incline
- 22
- Avalanche Character
- windSlab
- Crust Near Weak Layer
- 1
- Number Of Avalanches
- 2-5
- Start Zone Elevation
- 2360
- Avalanche Occurrence Datetime
- 2024-02-16T19:00:00.000Z
See Pictures: The first skier that exited the Aussie couloir skied left toward the Kiwi couloir entrance, stopped, and leaned his shoulder into the slope. That was enough to let a fairly deep slab go which carried the skier slowly for a few meters. The side of the feature that broke was technically northwest facing but on the SW side of Joffre, we think the loading was from the sluff coming out of the couloir above. Skiing out from and down the Anniversary glacier we saw numerous small naturals on sunny slopes.