Swimming at the gorge

Quick report

heneudorf · Dec 20, 2023 · Jordan

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Quick report

Weather
wet, warm, cloudy, foggy
Ride Type
denseTrees, mellowSlopes, openTrees
Stayed Away
alpineSlopes, steepSlopes, cutBlocks
Riding Quality
ok
Snow Conditions
heavy, wet
Avalanche Conditions
avalancheConditionTemp, avalancheConditionSnow

Sledded up the road to km 17 to go for a short ski to check out conditions. Rained from the moment we started to the moment we got back. Would’ve been drier in a pool. Was 1 degree at km 3 and -1 at 1540m around 12pm but still raining. Access road was in decent shape due to good throttle control from previous sleds minimizing “whoops”.

Snowpack

Depth
130
Obs Type
summary
Site Aspect
E
Test Fracture
unevenBreak
Site Elevation
1540
Ski Penetration
20
Test Initiation
moderate
Test Failure Depth
15
Site Elevation Band
btl
Surface Conditions
variable

Dug a pit at 1540m on a 33 degree slope. Air temp was -1 but still raining. CTM3 uneven break 15cm down. CTM8 30cm down was another “failure” not sudden or planar. CTH2 60cm down another uneven crack in the column but didn’t slide or break evenly. This last failure occurred above the rain crust 60cm down. Fist->4f down to the crust at 60cm, then 1F to a layer of facets at the ground. Overall the snowpack seems pretty consolidated with the warm temps.