Unstable Conditions behind Mt. Fernie

Quick report

mattszczepanski.ms · Jan 28, 2019 · Lizard

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Quick report

Weather
cloudy, sunny
Ride Type
mellowSlopes, denseTrees, openTrees
Stayed Away
alpineSlopes, steepSlopes, convexSlopes
Riding Quality
Good
Snow Conditions
crusty, powder
Avalanche Conditions
avalancheConditionSlab, avalancheConditionSound

Went for an exploratory mission behind Mt. Fernie. We alder whacked our way up at lower elevations; it still need at least +1m of snow to make it good skiing. Once we got out of the valley bottom the snow was amazing but unstable. Played it safe and skied some conservative lines down from the ridge top.

Avalanche

Noticed signs of instability and traveled in conservative terrain. Despite this we triggered a couple small size 1 avalanches while skiing bellow treeline (see first image).