Blowdown

Quick report

swskier · Mar 4, 2023 · Duffey

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Quick report

Weather
cloudy, stormy, sunny
Ride Type
alpineSlopes, steepSlopes
Stayed Away
sunnySlopes
Riding Quality
Amazing
Snow Conditions
powder
Avalanche Conditions
avalancheConditionSlab, avalancheConditionSound

Had a nice day skiing primarily north facing terrain near Blowdown Peak. Couloir entrances were a little blown in and ski cuts produced big sluffs/small Sz1 wind slabs. Skinning up the final slope to access the exit on SW aspect at ~1900m had whomping and shooting cracks when 2nd skinner triggered a Sz1 that swept down through the trees but managed to self arrest on the bed surface. Day started overcast with filtered sun and progressed to obscured skies and snowfall by 3pm.

Avalanche

Abrupt change at this aspect/elevation to a storm slab on faceted mfcr. Several instances of shooting cracks while trying to navigate back into the trees. 2nd skinner triggered small avalanche and self arrested on bed surface while runout went through trees below.

1 photo