13/14 Tahoe Thread -- Raddest Thread On The Internets!!!

[enlosandes]

I was just coming back from a tour on Mt Rose and saw a bunch of emergency vehicles as well as search and rescue. Anyone know what happened?

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[gone2alpine]

And on the same note...anyone have pics or info on inbounds slide in Wolverine Bowl today at Schralpine?

[climberevan]

Enjoyed some mashed potatoes today...anything below 8500 is pretty much shot.

Corn cycle is coming, though.

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[Ottime]

Some stoke from Sunday. I was super stoked to get out, even if I did run into several issues, including packing a near dead battery into the camera. Some of my best shots never made it onto the camera. The last area we hit I was in a great spot to shot everyone dropping. Oh, well. Next time.

Driver drives.


Lightranger leaps.


Schralphmachio schralphs


A few more pics and lots of words at the lame blog site.

[wolfy]

g2a-
I was up there this morning- very freaky behavior.
With a huge temp flux and sun hitting the south and east faces, things started letting go that had appeared stable.
imho- even on low angle, the slide surfaces seemed to be the colder/wind drifted snow from yesterday, with last nights wetter-heavier snow on top. Temp shift was the push, possibly like a year ago Christmas eve from Tahoe north.

Saw some point release and sympathetic while driving home- all up pretty high.
Back country should be seriously unstable on similar faces. Be safe out there.

[gone2alpine]

SAC rated moderate today on all aspects...

[enlosandes]

g2a-
I was up there this morning- very freaky behavior.
With a huge temp flux and sun hitting the south and east faces, things started letting go that had appeared stable.
imho- even on low angle, the slide surfaces seemed to be the colder/wind drifted snow from yesterday, with last nights wetter-heavier snow on top. Temp shift was the push, possibly like a year ago Christmas eve from Tahoe north.

Saw some point release and sympathetic while driving home- all up pretty high.
Back country should be seriously unstable on similar faces. Be safe out there.

Agreed, between the fog and the humidity, it was uncanny Sierra weather for sure.

I actually elected to ski a line with more trees and choose against the obvious untracked bowl.

[xtrmjoe]

Caught 3rd chair at summit six this am with keith/kevin and crew from praxis, which was great as me and the lady were on their boards today.
In all the years I've been riding alpine i have never had patrol give a warning in the corral. "Funky snow down low, watch out for wet slides and gullies. Please keep an eye on each other today!" After question about ridge hikes the said no way, to much activity. We were both beeping just in case but her nerves were high.
Lost of fun on untracked till beer thirty.

[TahoeJ]

So did SAC just blow it on this one today or what? Sure sounds considerable to me when patrol is warning people inbounds.

[tahoearmada]

snow has been sliding a lot the last week or so... be careful everyone

[xtrmjoe]

I hope they were opening on time but knowing the temps would rise and the sun would shine. Which would increase the chances of loose wet/wet slide activity as the sac report stated.
Patrols ski cuts looked to release many small pockets.

[Spats]

Kicked off a small slide inbounds at the Heave today.

Three turns and most of Pipeline let go around me, in that instant shattering familiar to anyone who's ever been caught in a slide. I thought for a moment I might be able to ski it down, but the new snow was wet and moving really fast, so I decided to try to scoot out the side. It took out my feet, but I was able to escape before it washed me all the way down.

The setup was strange. It looked like a wet slide once it got going, because the snow was wet and dense, but it kicked off like any other slab avalanche. Only about 5" deep, but it ran all the way: Pipeline is steep, and once anything starts it's going to the apron.

Be careful out there.

[gimpy]

Damn sad to see dogs getting hurt cuz their owners don't train them to always stay back. There are no bad dogs, just bad dog owners. Hopefully his Achilles didn't get sliced

[powdork]

^^how's the recovery going? I start my pt tomorrow at barton at 10am (though i've been doing it at home for almost a week now).

[lepistoir]

Hit Squaw today from the tail end of the funi line at opening. Saw siberia wasn't turning and bombs still going off so dropped to headwall, but they weren't loading, even though spinning. I waited about 5 minutes and heard someone talking to a patroller about the snow off KT west face and how much it was moving. The ski cut releases were substantial and carried far. Patroller said bombs weren't moving it so I figured HW wasn't opening any time soon and went for a run on W face (lots of heavy, wet sluffs/mini-slabs off my turns) and back to HW, which still wasn't loading. Went back up Funi and met some friends who had been on Granite and Silvy getting the goods, but it was all tracked up by that point and I didn't have my carving skis so I left around 10:30. Anyone know what time headwall and sibo opened?

[unpossible]

^^^ Per the Squaw twitter feed it opened at 10:21am.

[Hutchski]

Talking mountain was slidey today

[lepistoir]

^^^ Per the Squaw twitter feed it opened at 10:21am.

I should have known. time I left = time it opened

[SDW]

So did SAC just blow it on this one today or what? Sure sounds considerable to me when patrol is warning people inbounds.

Inbounds conditions and the SAC forecast are two different things. The SAC forecast today was for "moderate" at all elevations and aspects. "Moderate" means human triggers are possible. So the forecast for today was that human triggers were possible at all elevations and aspects.

[Arty50]

SAC rated moderate today on all aspects...

Inbounds conditions and the SAC forecast are two different things. The SAC forecast today was for "moderate" at all elevations and aspects. "Moderate" means human triggers are possible. So the forecast for today was that human triggers were possible at all elevations and aspects.

^ This!!! There are people who say that we should actually ditch the rating system. Why? Because everyone thinks that low means things won't avy ever and that moderate is relatively safe. This couldn't be further from the truth. If you had bothered to read the full advisory from today's report, you would realize that this is that case.

http://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/advisory#null

Recent Observations:
Observations made yesterday on Incline Lake Peak (Mount Rose backcountry), Mt. Judah (Donner Summit area), Scout Peak (Echo Summit area), South Maggies (Desolation Wilderness area), and on Red Lake Peak (Carson Pass area) revealed a mix of unstable and stable snowpack conditions. On Incline Lake Peak and on Scout Peak, two very small slab avalanches were triggered. On Incline Peak, an intentional cornice collapse onto a test slope triggered a 14 inch deep wind slab that failed 10 feet wide on a near treeline NNE aspect at 9,500'. On Scout Peak a small snowboard triggered wet slab avalanche was triggered near treeline on an ENE aspect at 8,400'. The avalanche measured approximately 20 feet wide and had a 2 foot crown. Skiers descending South Maggies via NE aspect below treeline terrain reported triggering roller balls and pin wheels below 8,000'.

Observations made on Red Lake Peak and on Mt. Judah revealed widespread wet snow conditions with no evidence of instability observed from both formal and informal snowpack assessment.

Avalanche Problem 1:
Pockets of wind slab that existed yesterday near treeline and above treeline on N-NE-E aspects received additional loading last night under new snowfall and moderate speed SW winds. Human triggered avalanches with slab thickness of 8 inches to 3 feet remain possible today.

Avalanche Problem 2:
As the day progresses, daytime warming and occasional sun breaks will allow for wet loose avalanches to occur on all aspects and at nearly all elevations. Widespread roller ball activity is expected as new snow falls off of rocks and trees. In some areas these roller balls may progress to loose wet avalanches. Small natural and human triggered loose wet avalanches are possible today on slope 37 degrees and steeper.

Avalanche Problem 3:
Areas that were either directly wind loaded or cross loaded last night and continue to hold an active weak layer may avalanche today under warming conditions. Small to medium size human triggered wet slab avalanches are possible today on NW-N-NE-E-SE aspects in wind effected near treeline and above treeline terrain. An isolated natural wet slab avalanche is unlikely but not impossible today in these same areas.

Bottom line: ALWAYS READ THE FULL ADVISORY!!!

[SchralphMacchio]

SAC rated moderate today on all aspects...

So did SAC just blow it on this one today or what? Sure sounds considerable to me when patrol is warning people inbounds.

Blow it?

First of all, if you read the avalanche problems from today's bulletin, the forecast seems very accurate and also a lot more useful than just reading the danger rating.

Avalanche Problems for 3/4/2014:

• 8" to 3' windslabs possible to slide on N through E faces near and above treeline
• Small sized loose wet slides possible on all aspects and elevations, trending toward increasing danger throughout the day
• Small to medium sized wet slabs possible to slide on NW through SE faces near and above treeline, trending toward increasing danger throughout the day

"Blowing it" would be having observations that don't match these problem descriptions, such as lots of loose dry activity (slough) or deep persistent slabs (old buried weak layers).

Let's take a look at the Danger Scale to see the difference between Moderate and Considerable. Here's Moderate: "human triggered avalanches are possible" and "small avalanches in specific areas; or large avalanches in isolated areas." Here is Considerable: "human triggered avalanches are likely; natural avalanches are possible" and "small avalanches in many areas; or large avalanches in specific areas; or very large avalanches in isolated areas." I wasn't out today, but did we see widespread human-triggered activity across aspects and elevations? And, no one has yet reported any large slide activity or natural slab activity that would be associated with Considerable danger. So, was it really a Considerable day?


I know you didn't ask this, but an important question is, just how useful is the distinction between Moderate and Considerable to a skier? Personally, I think the Danger Scale is confusing and I definitely struggle to understand the nuanced differences Moderate vs. Considerable. There is no such thing as a "Moderate avalanche" or a "Considerable avalanche." The way the Danger Scale is written, you could be presented with a Moderate danger of getting destroyed by a large avalanche in isolated areas or a Considerable danger of getting continuously spanked by widespread small avalanches. Which would you rather choose? Where are those isolated areas? So, I've pretty much all but stopped using the Danger Scale in my decision making and instead focus on the Avalanche Problem - because it tells me how big of a problem I am fucking with, how likely I am to get it going, and where it is located. All very clear and useful information.


Sorry about the rant ... just getting the word out about the usefulness of the Avalanche Problem while also defending the job of the forecasters. I make a big deal out of this these days, because I was with my friend Mike on a Moderate rated day when I watched him get killed in a massive 4' deep slide. By sheer coincidence, the guy who wrote the forecast that day also ended up helping with the rescue and resuscitation attempts. After the accident, he asked some of us how much the Moderate rating played into our terrain choice on that day - and I think he had a hard time with that call. That guy made the best call he could with the classification, and I think it was the correct call. Today, I put a lot more respect toward the Avalanche Problem in my decision making, and I don't fret so much about Moderate vs. Considerable.

[enlosandes]

Here's a related article worth a read

Death of the Avalanche Danger Rating

[gimpy]

^^how's the recovery going? I start my pt tomorrow at barton at 10am (though i've been doing it at home for almost a week now).

Just had my first pt at Barton today. Making progress. Banner seemed stoked. Gonna be a long road. Non weight bearing for 3-4 months w an ankle fusion probable without a miraculous recovery. He called my ankle a bowl of giblets

Good luck tomorrow amigo. Think nothin but +++++ thoughts

[SchralphMacchio]

ELA that's a great article, thanks for sharing.

[supermodel159]

Sorry about the rant ... just getting the word out about the usefulness of the Avalanche Problem while also defending the job of the forecasters. I make a big deal out of this these days, because I was with my friend Mike on a Moderate rated day when I watched him get killed in a massive 4' deep slide. By sheer coincidence, the guy who wrote the forecast that day also ended up helping with the rescue and resuscitation attempts. After the accident, he asked some of us how much the Moderate rating played into our terrain choice on that day - and I think he had a hard time with that call. That guy made the best call he could with the classification, and I think it was the correct call. Today, I put a lot more respect toward the Avalanche Problem in my decision making, and I don't fret so much about Moderate vs. Considerable.

Fuck man, that is heavy.

Keep preaching Alex, the BC is so trendy these days people think if they have a beacon and probe they'll be out of danger.