Kluane/Dalton Range

Quick report

Weather

cloudy, sunny, windy

Ride Type

mellowSlopes

Stayed Away

alpineSlopes, convexSlopes, steepSlopes, sunnySlopes

Riding Quality

terrible

Snow Conditions

crusty, hard, windAffected

Avalanche Conditions

avalancheConditionSlab, avalancheConditionSnow, avalancheConditionTemp

It was 5°C at the parking lot, with strong winds from the south. The high peaks were cloud-covered, and there was snow being transported everywhere. The sun may have affected the surface of the second avalanche. I don’t think the first one was caused by warming, it was more likely due to significant wind loading. We didn’t see or hear the second slab release, but the debris from the first avalanche was covered by new debris. If we hadn’t stopped, we definitely would have been caught in its path, especially since the terrain was more like a canyon. About 15–20 cm of snow fell on April 14 in the Dalton Range, and this snow is still available for transport. It may be sitting on hard snow and facets. I’ve been skiing in Kluane since a month now and it’s the most unstable snow i’ve seen so far.