Island Alpine Guides: AST 2

Quick report

Weather

cloudy, warm, wet, windy

Ride Type

mellowSlopes, openTrees, steepSlopes, sunnySlopes

Stayed Away

convexSlopes, cutBlocks

Riding Quality

terrible

Snow Conditions

crusty, hard, heavy, wet, windAffected

Avalanche Conditions

avalancheConditionSlab, avalancheConditionTemp

Island Alpine Guides AST-2 course: January 19-22 Avalanche Observations: On Sunday morning, a few loose wet avalanches up to size 2 were noted on steep and unsupported terrain from overnight rains and rising freezing lines. On Monday, a ~ 12-hour-old size 2.5 slab avalanche was observed on north-facing high alpine terrain along Mount Abel. Snowpack Summary: At Treeline, the upper snowpack was moist to wet down to 20 to 30 cm to the melt-freeze crust/facet combo. Facets are starting to round out, producing hard compression test results with a broken and resistant planar characteristics-No results on extended column tests. In the alpine, the upper snowpack was dry to moist. On a wind loaded polar aspect, a deep tap test produced hard sudden planner results on the melt-freeze/facet combo down 140 cm. The lower snowpack is composed of a conglomerate of melt-freeze crusts. Snow depths range from 20 to 200 cm between 1200 to 1650 m elevation. Below this elevation, the snow depth tapers quickly and becomes disconnected, revealing extensive patches of exposed ground and vegetation.