Highwood Pass / Pocaterra Ridge
AvalancheGinger · Nov 20, 2021 · Highwood Pass
Quick report
- Ride Type
- mellowSlopes
- Riding Quality
- good
- Snow Conditions
- windAffected, powder
We were among the many people enjoying the early season conditions at Highwood Pass. All easily accessible mellow terrain saw a lot of traffic. We went to the windy 'top' of Pocaterra Ridge, saw two sluffs release off Pocaterra Mountain along the way. The ski back to the base of the ridge was very cautious with a few rocks skimmed and many more lurking. Below that point was some lovely boot top powder on a supportive base.
Weather
- Wind Speed
- windSpeedModerate
- Sky Condition
- brokenClouds
- Precipitation Type
- none
Strong wind gusts (40-60 km/hr) at the Highwood Pass parking lot and on Pocaterra Ridge
Snowpack
- Obs Type
- summary
- Surface Conditions
- variable
Faceted, wind affected, and no base above treeline. Supportive crust with boot top powder below treeline.
Avalanche
- Trigger Type
- natural
- Avalanche Size
- 1.5
- Start Zone Aspect
- E
- Vegetation Cover
- openSlope
- Avalanche Character
- looseDry
- Number Of Avalanches
- 2-5
- Start Zone Elevation
- 2700
- Runout Zone Elevation
- 2500
- Start Zone Elevation Band
- alp
- Avalanche Occurrence Datetime
- 2021-11-20T11:30:00
Two loose, dry sluffs observed running down the steep east face of Pocaterra Mountain while we were climbing Pocaterra Ridge. Those sluffs did not trigger any slab avalanches as they interacted with the bowl below.