Don't think of pits and tests as ways of making a go/no-go decision. Instead, think of them as a way to confirm your plan for the day. Based on forecasts, weather, prior experience, first-hand reports, and the like, you should have a good idea of what your going to ski before ever digging a pit. If its sketchy and you plan on doing mellow slopes, use the pit to show you why you don't want to get on steeper terrain. If you know it's more stable and you plan on something more serious, use the pit to affirm your confidence in the pack.
Pits are not the end all, be all. They are highly variable and can often be judged very subjectively. That's why you have to use other tools (forecast, etc.) to help guide you in the right direction before ever deciding where to ski.
A point I've had stressed many times in my avy education is this: remember that pits should be used to show you what you already know.
Originally Posted by
pechelman
we recently had an experience where a few in our group were certain a slope WOULD slide.
others in the group werent so convinced that it would.
we all skied it, after a couple healthy ski cuts at the top of a rollover and it didnt slide.
at the bottom of the chute, the faces adjacent on both sides of the same aspect had all slid
You had folks in your group certain that it would slide, yet they skied it anyway?!? Sounds like you got super lucky here. Ski cuts don't have shit on gut instinct!!
Skiing, whether you're in Wisconsin or the Alps, is a dumbass hick country sport that takes place in the middle of winter on a mountain at the end of a dirt road.
-Glen Plake
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