Big Dave and friends on Big Kahuna

Quick report

Weather

warm, sunny, windy

Ride Type

steepSlopes, alpineSlopes

Stayed Away

sunnySlopes, convexSlopes

Riding Quality

amazing

Snow Conditions

powder, crusty, windAffected

Avalanche Conditions

avalancheConditionTemp

Snowpack

Depth

230

Obs Type

summary

Site Aspect

N, NE

Test Fracture

sudden

Site Elevation

1200

Ski Penetration

25

Test Initiation

moderate

Foot Penetration

5

Test Failure Depth

30

Site Elevation Band

alp

Surface Conditions

crust, facets, variable

Test Failure Layer Crystal Types

facets, depthHoar

Our plan was to assess the snow conditions and go for Big Kahuna if it was good enough. It was a blue bird day, with no precipitation. We encountered 30 km/h South wind at ridgetop and about -1c in the alpine. We dug a profile at 1200m on a north aspect and the results were moderate with ECTN 11 and ECTN19, with a fracture at 30 cm deep. See pictures for more info. We decided to go for it and were successful. The top of the line was packed down and you could see a bit of leeward effect as well. The cornice on the east face shoulder ridge seems to be getting really heavy but we deemed it safe to use that route and gave a good margin between each group member. The bottom line of the couloir and bowl was quite powdered and made for some good turns and smiles.