WHUMPH, there it is..
Quick reportYukon Field Team · Dec 17, 2025 · White Pass West
Quick report
- Weather
- cloudy, cold, windy
- Ride Type
- denseTrees, mellowSlopes, openTrees
- Stayed Away
- convexSlopes, steepSlopes
- Riding Quality
- ok
- Snow Conditions
- crusty, windAffected
- Avalanche Conditions
- avalancheConditionSound
We headed out today with an assessment mindset looking to see what destruction the cold temperatures and winds brought. Overall ski conditions were super variable. We were surprised at how much the wind had affected even lower runs in Fraser Chutes that are surrounded by dense trees. Within 5m we were going between stiff wind board, breakable crust and ~20 cm of powder. As we progressed higher we saw an avalanche that likely ran on wind slab during the storm. As we moved onto the slope we experienced a couple whumphs, which prompted us to stop earlier and have a dig. We found a very stiff 15cm thick wind slab on very "airy" loose facets, that separated when we cut the back for an ECT test. Still cold out there! Stay safe and look out for wind slabs. Check out @avcanyukon on Instagram and Facebook for the tests!
Weather
- Avg Temp
- -20
- Wind Speed
- windSpeedModerate
- Blowing Snow
- light
- Sky Condition
- overcast
- Snowfall Rate
- 1
- Wind Direction
- NE
- New Snow24 Hours
- 15
- Storm Start Date
- 2025-12-13
- Temperature Trend
- steady
- Precipitation Type
- snow
Snowpack
- Depth
- 105
- Obs Type
- summary
- Site Aspect
- E
- Test Fracture
- sudden
- Site Elevation
- 1200
- Ski Penetration
- 0
- Test Initiation
- easy
- Foot Penetration
- 0
- Sled Penetration
- 0
- Cracking Observed
- 1
- Test Failure Depth
- 15
- Site Elevation Band
- tln
- Surface Conditions
- variable
- Whumpfing Observed
- 1
- Test Failure Layer Crystal Types
- facets
15cm wind slab overlays a 5cm layer of loose and airy facets. ECTP result. Snowpack consistent and well consolidated below to ground. Wind slab is layer of concern.
Avalanche
- Run Length
- 200
- Slab Width
- 80
- Trigger Type
- natural
- Wind Exposure
- crossLoadedSlope
- Avalanche Size
- 2
- Slab Thickness
- 20
- Start Zone Aspect
- E
- Vegetation Cover
- sparseTrees
- Start Zone Incline
- 35
- Avalanche Character
- windSlab
- Crust Near Weak Layer
- 1
- Number Of Avalanches
- 1
- Start Zone Elevation
- 1200
- Runout Zone Elevation
- 1100
- Weak Layer Burial Date
- 2025-12-13
- Avalanche Observation
- moreThan48hrsAgo
- Weak Layer Crystal Type
- facets
- Start Zone Elevation Band
- tln
- Avalanche Occurrence Datetime
- 2025-12-16T23:27:00.000Z