Why we drop Cornices...
The last five days have put my down day skills to the test. Reading, painting, photo clinics, scrabble, chess, cross country skiing, Yoga, poker, Frisbee golf on ski’s, hot tubbing, Swiss ball tricks, and looking at clouds pretending to know what they are doing.
The good news is the mountains have received significant amounts of new snow. The bad news is our stable avalanche conditions are long gone. Do to our constant cloud studying we were on it when the clouds lifted yesterday afternoon and gave us a view of the mountains and an opportunity to get back out there.
Going into the backcountry, especially after a big storm event, can be dangerous. One tool I use on a daily basis is TGR’s Five Red Flags.
New snow with in the last 24 hours
Sign of natural avalanche activity
Whoomping or settling of the snow pack
Rapid heating
Strong winds
So before even going into the mountains we had one Red Flag, new snow with in 24 hours. With in 20 minutes we had determined two more Red Flags, natural avalanche activity, and rapid heating. This is not all that uncommon, especially after a new storm so we continued on our normal protocol.
We picked a run that had a ridge lined with multiple small cornices with easy gaps that would allow us to isolate, cut and drop cornices onto the slope acting as a bomb. We started small and worked our way down the ridge dropping bigger cornices onto the main part of the slope. On the third one we released a small cornice that landed into the middle of the slope and triggered the whole slope to release. We all watched in awe as a class 2/3 avalanche roared into the valley. Unfortunately the exit of our line had a big slope above it that did not release. After multiple cornice bombs we could not get the hanging slope to release.
There is nothing I wanted more then to make a powder turn after five days in the lodge but without getting the hanging slope to release it was not going to happen. We ended up riding down the backside of the slope on windblown scower and with clouds building we called it a day.
The above account is a very common situation we deal with daily in the mountains. We say 'no' a lot more than we say 'yes' when it comes to riding the terrain you see in the movies. Note: Do not try dropping cornices with out proper training and always make sure there is no one on the slope below.
Check CONWAY'S CORNER for more info.
** This is why we drop cornices.**
** Sage swimming in 3 feet of new snow.**
** Sage releasing a cornice with ski pole tap**
** Down day poker tournament**
** Weather check on the cross country skis**
** L to R: Seth, Todd, CG, Jeremy, Sage AClark**
** Every evening just before sunset the sun**
The last five days have put my down day skills to the test. Reading, painting, photo clinics, scrabble, chess, cross country skiing, Yoga, poker, Frisbee golf on ski’s, hot tubbing, Swiss ball tricks, and looking at clouds pretending to know what they are doing.
The good news is the mountains have received significant amounts of new snow. The bad news is our stable avalanche conditions are long gone. Do to our constant cloud studying we were on it when the clouds lifted yesterday afternoon and gave us a view of the mountains and an opportunity to get back out there.
Going into the backcountry, especially after a big storm event, can be dangerous. One tool I use on a daily basis is TGR’s Five Red Flags.
New snow with in the last 24 hours
Sign of natural avalanche activity
Whoomping or settling of the snow pack
Rapid heating
Strong winds
So before even going into the mountains we had one Red Flag, new snow with in 24 hours. With in 20 minutes we had determined two more Red Flags, natural avalanche activity, and rapid heating. This is not all that uncommon, especially after a new storm so we continued on our normal protocol.
We picked a run that had a ridge lined with multiple small cornices with easy gaps that would allow us to isolate, cut and drop cornices onto the slope acting as a bomb. We started small and worked our way down the ridge dropping bigger cornices onto the main part of the slope. On the third one we released a small cornice that landed into the middle of the slope and triggered the whole slope to release. We all watched in awe as a class 2/3 avalanche roared into the valley. Unfortunately the exit of our line had a big slope above it that did not release. After multiple cornice bombs we could not get the hanging slope to release.
There is nothing I wanted more then to make a powder turn after five days in the lodge but without getting the hanging slope to release it was not going to happen. We ended up riding down the backside of the slope on windblown scower and with clouds building we called it a day.
The above account is a very common situation we deal with daily in the mountains. We say 'no' a lot more than we say 'yes' when it comes to riding the terrain you see in the movies. Note: Do not try dropping cornices with out proper training and always make sure there is no one on the slope below.
Check CONWAY'S CORNER for more info.
** This is why we drop cornices.**
** Sage swimming in 3 feet of new snow.**
** Sage releasing a cornice with ski pole tap**
** Down day poker tournament**
** Weather check on the cross country skis**
** L to R: Seth, Todd, CG, Jeremy, Sage AClark**
** Every evening just before sunset the sun**
