Thar Peak Couloir
Quick reportgeripsy · Mar 16, 2025 · Cariboos
Quick report
- Weather
- cloudy, windy
- Ride Type
- alpineSlopes, steepSlopes
- Stayed Away
- convexSlopes
- Riding Quality
- ok
- Snow Conditions
- powder, windAffected
- Avalanche Conditions
- avalancheConditionSlab
The plan for the day was to climb Thar Peak from the north couloir, then ski down the other side. Near the entrance of the couloir, we switched from skis to crampons. The snow was quite deep, so we stayed near the rocks on climber's left where we could find some purchase with our ice axes. Progress was very slow though. After some heavy sluffing started to come down through the couloir above and past us, we aborted the mission and headed back down on skis. Near the bottom, I accidentally triggered a size 1 slab avalanche but it barely slid, probably because it wasn't steep enough.
Avalanche
- Run Length
- 1
- Slab Width
- 3
- Trigger Type
- skier
- Wind Exposure
- crossLoadedSlope
- Avalanche Size
- 1
- Slab Thickness
- 15
- Trigger Sub Type
- accidental
- Start Zone Aspect
- N
- Vegetation Cover
- openSlope
- Avalanche Character
- stormSlab
- Number Of Avalanches
- 2-5
- Avalanche Observation
- 12hrsAgo
- Start Zone Elevation Band
- alp
- Avalanche Occurrence Datetime
- 2025-03-16T23:00:00.000Z
Hugging climber's left of the couloir (~1550-1600 m) on the way up with crampons, we saw heavy sluffing (bordering on size 1) flow past us, lasting approximately 10 seconds and being 3 meters wide. It had started above us, but as our view was hidden by a bend, we could not see the starting point. This means it started at least 20 meters above us, and since it continued for another 5 meters past us, it had a total path of at least 25 meters. The angle of incline was about 45 degrees on a north aspect and it was 2:30 pm. As we transitioned back into downhill ski mode and started gingerly making our way back down, this sluffing occured 3 more times, each lasting 10-15 seconds. Once we were almost back at the lake (~1400-1450 m), I accidentally triggered a slab 1 avalanche directly beneath me. This is the avalanche the inputted data refers to. Crown was 15 cm deep, and about 3 meters wide. The slab only slid about 1 meter, presumably because it wasn't steep enough (angle of incline was about 30 degrees on a northern aspect). There was some cross-loading near where this slab broke off. Time was 4:00 pm.
Incident
- Group Size
- 2
- Terrain Trap
- gullyDepression
- Group Activity
- climbingMountaineering
Recording this as an incident because of the heavy sluffing that occured while we were in the couloir, not because of the small size 1 avalanche that occured later at the bottom.