KH slackcountry NE cornice
Quick reportsturgeonmouth · Mar 2, 2018 · North Columbia
Quick report
- Weather
- warm, cloudy
- Ride Type
- mellowSlopes
- Stayed Away
- alpineSlopes, steepSlopes, convexSlopes
- Riding Quality
- OK
- Snow Conditions
- crusty, heavy, hard, windAffected, powder
- Avalanche Conditions
- avalancheConditionSlab, avalancheConditionSound
Lots of wind slab as we approached the alpine. At 2250m on a NE aspect, I thought I was far enough back from the small cornice as I was about to make a switchback on the uptrack. I heard a whumpf, and the snow started cracking around me. I was able to moonwalk back 2m on the slow moving snow to safety. The fracture was 10m wide, 37cm deep, and ran 150m to an E facing gully. We ended up skiing a SE aspect, entering just below the sustrugi. Conditions were OK, powder over hard pack (sun crust?). Be careful above tree line over the weekend as new snow may hide the underlying wind slab.