In bounds avi Blackcomb Jan 7th

[paulster2626]

Oh man I have just been so confused for the past 20 minutes - took that long to realize it is 2009 now...

That's it I'm going outside.

[eldereldo]

It might as well be 2008, conditions are probably worse right now

[ian9139]

Patrol heli bombed the slope that morning (a double and a single), then a ski cutting team went through, then about 100 people skied the slope, then someone hit the sweet spot and it all ripped out. One of the bomb holes was about 10-12 feet above the fracture.

This is how I will explain to people why inbounds avalanches occur.

[Spiralmind]

what do you reckon it will be like in two weeks? i'll be there the 25th.

[LeeLau]

Unfortunately, still fucked and likely worse then present

[Spiralmind]

oh well. i'm still flyinig up there for four days. conditions are not gonna stop my vacation. hopefully the groomers will be fluffy.

[powder11]

I went up to the top of showcase yesterday and scoped out Blackcomb glacier. The entire ridge line above the glacier has ripped out wall to wall and the medium angle stuff down to the valley floor is a big debris pile. I've never seen anything like it. The slope above the wind lip has a hudge crown looking to be a couple meters deep and the bergshrund is still poking out right above the wind lip. The ridge over towards ladies 1st is just a big cliff with no snow on it at all. It looks like summer conditions. I can't even fathom what the backcountry looks like.

Patrol was carpet bombing spanky's so maybe the warmer temps coming in this week will penetrate into the weak faceted layer now that its exposed in most places? Don't know enough about it to speculate, but one can only hope...

[LeeLau]

thanks for that toby.

We ambled up a ridgeline just outside ski area in the park towards Lesser Flute. Saw helibombing on Piccolo Ridge and also naturals on storm snow on Oboe at the usual start zone at the windaffected N ridge where there's usually small cornices. Flute and Lesser Flute has no tracks. Cornices forming on Flute but they're not very big - perhaps due to there being not much snow?

Found the facet layer at ground at our pit with snow depth of 210 - 215 cms on a windloaded NE facing slope with inconclusive failures of the facet layer. Meanwhile another group on a Canada West avalanche course dug a pit also to ground with the facets at snow depth of 185cms or so on a W facing slope with failure of entire block on an easy on a compression test.

Conclusions are:

1. There's not a lot of snow on the alpine

2. Facets at ground are present on very different aspects and are present even in the sub-alpine where one might have hoped that wind would have destroyed the facets.

3. Failure of the entire snowpack to ground is very variable - ie it's incredibly difficult to take even a poor guess at where large avalanches could occur

I'll add the full jargon observations here [ space reserved]

[jahroy]

thank you Clownshoe for that pic... taking my first trip to Whistler this March and that will certainly help my research.

glad no one was burried, does this mean you guys are starting to get some snow?

[JimLad]

thank you Clownshoe for that pic... taking my first trip to Whistler this March and that will certainly help my research.

glad no one was burried, does this mean you guys are starting to get some snow?

You know that slide happened last season?

[t.odd]

good info Lee....my roommate and I did some runs along the avy boundary in harmony yesterday aft when it started to clear up a bit, so much stuff sliding in there, was very very sobering to see.....that and the big crown in whis bowl too.....heard yesterday that they pulled over 60 passes last week for closure violations and that they're pondering a STEEP fine and lifetime ban too......

[jahroy]

You know that slide happened last season?

darn.... guess i irily didn't read the last page. sorry about that. still stoked about that pic and my trip in 2 months.

i was kinda shocked, because i thought you guys were having a lean year (like us)...

[grapedrink]

come to europe, even in verbier my seasons pass cost me less than last years w/b pass, food costs the same if not less for most things, and my rent is cheaper (in nendaz).. its silly how much terrain there is..