Stayed off the Face

Quick report

Weather

cloudy

Ride Type

convexSlopes, denseTrees, mellowSlopes, openTrees

Stayed Away

alpineSlopes

Riding Quality

good

Snow Conditions

powder

Avalanche Conditions

avalancheConditionSlab, avalancheConditionSnow

We headed to the Hurley to investigate the snowpack around the Face/Birkenhead... Staging was anywhere between 7 km and 9 km, but proper snow coverage doesn't begin until just after 9 km. We sledded to 1500m then transitioned to skis. The area got about 10 cm of new snow within the last 24 hours on top of 50ish cm from the weekend. We dug a profile on a WNW aspect in an open tree area, our result was: ECTN30 down 55 on a storm snow layer. This spot might be quite wind-loaded, in other spots the weak layer might be shallower. Wind was light to moderate with significant snow transport which could cover our tracks within an hour. We triggered some size 1 wind slab/ storm slab avalanches while ski cutting and observed a natural release size 1 wind slab on the lee side of cliff area. We enjoyed some nice mellow treeline storm skiing.

Weather

Avg Temp

-2

Wind Speed

windSpeedModerate

Blowing Snow

light

Sky Condition

overcast

Snowfall Rate

1

Wind Direction

S

New Snow24 Hours

10

Temperature Trend

steady

Precipitation Type

snow

Snowpack

Depth

380

Obs Type

point

Site Aspect

NW

Test Fracture

unevenBreak

Site Elevation

1620

Ski Penetration

30

Test Initiation

hard

Foot Penetration

40

Test Failure Depth

55

Site Elevation Band

tln

Surface Conditions

newSnow

Test Failure Layer Crystal Types

stormSnow

Profile in open tree line; ECTN30 down 55 on Storm snow 10 cm of New snow from the last 24 hours on top of 40ish cm of rounded grains. With 1 cm of Storm snow crystals with an other 60 cm of progressively dense rounded grains on top of the melt freeze crust from Mid February

Avalanche

Run Length

20

Slab Width

10

Trigger Type

natural

Wind Exposure

leeSlope

Avalanche Size

1

Slab Thickness

40

Trigger Sub Type

intentional

Start Zone Aspect

NW

Vegetation Cover

openSlope

Start Zone Incline

40

Avalanche Character

stormSlab, windSlab

Number Of Avalanches

2-5

Start Zone Elevation

1600

Weak Layer Burial Date

2025-03-14

Avalanche Observation

12hrsAgo

Weak Layer Crystal Type

stormSnow

Start Zone Elevation Band

btl

Avalanche Occurrence Datetime

2025-03-20T20:00:00.000Z

size 1 natural release of wind slab on lee slope in steep terrain. size 1 storm slab/wind slab in westerly aspect triggered by ski cutting