The Muffin

Avalanche

Miles Kenyon-Slaney · Mar 20, 2020 · Kootenay Pass

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Quick report

Weather
warm, sunny
Ride Type
steepSlopes, sunnySlopes, mellowSlopes
Stayed Away
openTrees, alpineSlopes
Riding Quality
ok
Snow Conditions
powder, crusty, heavy, windAffected
Avalanche Conditions
avalancheConditionTemp

Great day skiing practicing social distancing in K Pass. Skied off Lightning Strike into twin lakes and then did the muffin + LSD chute. Sunny slopes were very soft, and there was abundant evidence of wet loose activity, even if limited to sz 1-1.5. Lots of pinwheeling (some teaching a few metres in diameter) and some evidence of cornice failure, but no releases. Plenty of tracks everywhere and uptracks were super bombed out and slippery.

Avalanche

Trigger Type
natural
Avalanche Size
1
Start Zone Aspect
SW, E, W, SE, S
Avalanche Character
looseWet, wetSlab
Crust Near Weak Layer
1
Number Of Avalanches
6-10
Start Zone Elevation Band
alp, tln, btl
Avalanche Occurrence Datetime
2020-03-20T12:56:00

Plenty of wet loose activity, all natural and limited to sz 1-1.5. A ski cut produced what looked like a small wet slab, but no further evidence of this made us reluctant to make that call. Plenty of pinwheels, some that gathered momentum and became very large. Very soft debris on steep sunny slopes