Storm Mountain North Couloir

Quick report

Weather

windy, warm, sunny, cold

Ride Type

alpineSlopes, mellowSlopes, denseTrees, steepSlopes

Stayed Away

sunnySlopes, convexSlopes

Riding Quality

good

Snow Conditions

hard, deepPowder, windAffected, powder

3 of us booted up the north couloir on storm mountain on Saturday with some surprising good skiing. At the base and the fan section of the couloir the snow was a mix of hard pack and very soft fluffy goodness. The hard pack was a result from the natural avalanches in the area that likely occured during the storm. This made for an interesting skin route up, but eventually the steepness made it too challenging and we opted to boot the rest of the way. Most of the boot pack wasn't too bad but some of it became waist deep which took your breath away quickly. Just before the choke separating the upper section of the couloir we dug our pit. There was a loose/dry sluff that broke off quite easily at about 30cm which may have become more of concern if the weather got warmer, but the couloir was shielded from the sun so it stayed fairly cool. At about 50cm there was a rain or thaw/freeze weak layer which broke after 22 smacks of our block test. After some discussion we decided we would still ski the couloir. The boot pack up the main section was the same as the lower but steeper. We did not see any overhead hazards as most of it was blown away by the wind. At the top we were rewarded with some beautiful views. We didn't linger long because we were still concerned with warming weather which started to make the snow sticky. The ski down the couloir was done slowly until confidence was built up. We had some amazing turns with many face washes! There was some sluffing on the way down but had no signs of instabilities. What a great day!

Weather

Wind Speed

windSpeedLight

Blowing Snow

light

Sky Condition

fewClouds

Wind Direction

NE

Temperature Trend

rising

Precipitation Type

none

Good weather with slight increase in temperature throughout the day but not enough to take the jackets off. Still cold. Light winds, but we were shielded by the mountains. No sun on our face but it was out there hitting those south facing slopes.

Snowpack

Depth

210

Obs Type

summary

Site Aspect

N

Test Fracture

resistant

Site Elevation

2700

Test Initiation

easy

Test Failure Depth

50

Site Elevation Band

alp

Surface Conditions

newSnow, variable

Test Failure Layer Crystal Types

crust