since we are talking spines here's my attempt at one today. middle of the face
like LeeLau mentioned sometimes too deep to boot.
had to settle for the diagonal ramp it had slid and was bootable.
Good luck, looks fairly short from what I saw in the video. No route finding problems. Hit it likehe did. Drop in side slip to get a feel for the snow than hit it as hard as you feel comfortable. Take some pictures to share with this armchair quarterback.
off your knees Louie
My .02 (pales in comparison to the great advice already offered here).
Seek advice from experienced locals you trust. If your Dad is a patroller, pick his brain. Talk to the forecaster or other senior patrollers if you can.
Ski and test slopes adjacent that have similar coverage and aspect but less exposure (if possible).
Don't forget there's a big difference between a line being "filled in" and a line being "good to go". If this line was rocky before this big storm, the now buried rocks could be your perfect weak spots for a slide to propigate. Don't get too aggresive just because it's finally holding snow and you want to get on it. If this line is within easy reach of all the super heroes around Squaw, and it almost never has tracks, there's probably a pretty good reason for it.
If you really have that much of a hard on for this line, consider roping up and digging a pit at the top of this line.
My personal rule is that for anything with serious exposure (and this line looks like it qualifies), the conditions have to be pretty damn good. I have to be feeling it, and I have to be with partners that I trust, and I have to be pretty certain the stability is right. The worst stability is almost always during or right after major snowfalls. If it's dumping like crazy, and it looks like it is in your neighbourhood, it's time to ski trees, not be stepping out over make or break exposure.
A couple general thoughts:
If I'm trying something big/consequential, I try to work up to it in steps. If such a line were on my list, I'd try to find nearby lines that are similar but easier/less consequential in some ways and make sure I could ski them carefully, precisely, and reliably. I try have backup plans, with the certainty that my assessment of conditions is sometimes wrong.
Like CookieMonster, I'm worried that you're trying to get confirmation that it's safe to ski your line from an internet message board.
I've made a habit out of listening to my gut when it's concerned, unsure, or screaming at me to back off.
If the line comes in every El Nino year, it'll be back again soon, and probably better filled in. That may also be the case in March - I don't know the snow down there well enough.
Skiing for the camera sometimes gets folks hurt. Make sure you'd be comfortable skiing it solo deep in an isolated range - you're equally alone on the spine once you drop in.
If I'm trying to evaluate stability for anything I'm going to ski or climb, but can't access directly, I spend a lot of time stomping on and skiing test slopes with similar aspect, angle, elevation, solar/sky exposure, windloading, and snow conditions.
"...remember that courage and strength are nought without prudence, and that a momentary negligence may destroy the happiness of a lifetime. Do nothing in haste; look well to each step; and from the beginning think what may be the end." - Whymper
Well I wont quote both of you but yes , solid advice. and I wasnt looking for confirmation from tgr, just some help and thoughts to use as a sounding board. I think that no matter what your knowledge is, its always good to have a valued second , third, or even more opinions when doing something with high consequence.
And as for my line I broke trail on my sled for 5 hours to get in to it. And I have to say it looked pretty good, the snow seemed very stable for how much snow we have had. We dug about 5 different pits and things looked solid.
However there were two small things in the line that bothered me, and the it was snowing off an on with some small windows of sun coming through the clouds. After looking for an hour I decided it would have to be another day.
thanks again for all the sound advice.
This has got nothing to do with Avy safety, but coincidentally enough I saw that same line in that vid last night, and our entire table openly said "holy shit, you've gotta nail that line exactly or you're fucked."\
If you've seen the whole video, you sooner or later see a similar spine that does release, and the guy gets swept down a 30 ft'er backwards. Just an example of what can happen.
Good thread though, great way to get a lot of avy safety info out.
this is a good discussion.
extrapolating my experience on saturday on the sierra west slope, i think you made a good decision of no go.
i don't know that particular zone. being that the OP is from reno, i assume that it's in the sierra. it looks like an aspect between NE and E (judging by the shadows), somewhere at or below 8k ft, no? (my apologies for this post and my obs if that's incorrect and sorry that this doesn't directly address the original avi question.) on saturday, i found a variable (unexpected) crust on an open and treeless eastern-ish face at ~7-8k ft on the sierra west slope. the face was definitely not as steep as your line; more in the low to mid30's. the crust was mixed into the deep and yummy (and bomber) pow found on most of the face. it lurked under 1-2 feet of blower. i usually noticed the crust on a slight (micro) variation in the terrain. also, even though it wasn't a particularly steep slope, i was getting sloughs specifically on that crust layer, but nowhere else. the blower on the crust was not a cohesive slab. we skinned/climbed a similar aspect and found none of this crust.
my point: an unexpected crust under blower is not something you'd want to find mid-descent on your rowdy line. i think the only way that you'd find something like this would be by hitting a very similar but less exposed line (warm-up) in the immediate area of your intended goal.
cheers
Hey just wanted to say thanks for all the sound advice.
Last week I finally got the opportunity to go up and ski that line. Turns out first turn it let loose and took all the snow off the first turn on the spine but i still got to ski it! Stoked thanks again.
pics/vid?
Be careful about buying snowboard goggles for skiing. Snowboard goggles come in right eye and left eye (for goofy-footers) dominant models. This can make it hard to see correctly when skiing because you are facing straight down the hill, not sideways.
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