Red Baldy avy 1-20-05 TR

The day started a little later than usual since i wasn't as familiar with the terrain. it still got to see the sun come up.

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic32349.jpg

i was shocked to find this only a few hundred yards into the trek:

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic32351.jpg

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic32350.jpg

it was a very destructive avy running full track that took out all sorts of mature timber and disaster species. it wasn't the one i was looking for so i continued.

a little while later and still more than a mile away i found this:

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic32362.jpg

after some more trekking i got close enough to see how powerful it must have been. this was not the furthest running toe of debris but it included lots of large trees and was about 20' deep.

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic32355.jpg


don't let the scale fool you. some of the blocks a few hundred yards down were a square meter and solid as ice. traversing this on the way out gives you a real appreciation for how small you are compared to mother nature.

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic32354.jpg

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic32360.jpg

the stauchwall was a couple feet deep. i can imagine how high the fast moving debris must have shot out away from the slope as if it were a kicker. this also was on my mind as i booted up the slick bedsurface. i could kick a toe in but that didn't make me feel any better about what was below.

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic32353.jpg

a pic from the smaller 4' section of the crown:

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic32359.jpg



the transport was blowing a grab bag full of crystal types on top of me so i did not do any stability assessment.

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic32361.jpg

i did notice two harder layers about a meter down that were pensil and near knife hardness.

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic32358.jpg

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic32357.jpg

my planks were still on my pack so i tried to use my pole for a size reference but it didn't work out so well. i was reluctant to let go of my whippet on that bed surface (this was not the deepest portion of the crown):

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic32356.jpg

i took nearly the same route down as i came up. the skiing was highly variable but i actually enjoyed making some low angle turns. on the way out i ran into wra who had already been in silver fork and then on cardiac. he said he had fun too.

Nice TR man, thanks for that. What a scary/fun time to be in the Wasatch.

not sure where this is located, but was this triggered by hand charge?

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic32362.jpg


looks like a hand charge to me at the top, but I hesitate to say thats what initated the slide since the crown is below it.

edit: i know where this is now, but surely no one does control work on it, doesnt that look like a crater w/ black poweder/carbon up there?

yeah, wasatch powder birds calls it "stability testing". none of these slopes have been reacting normally to explosives. skiing that slope would have sucked just because of the surface conditions.



cs, yes it is scary but a good time to learn if you can do so safely.

I saw a huge crown the other day, one canyon west of solitudes honeycomb canyon. Large slab, very long and deep crown, pretty good wind loading on the slope.

I could see where people were attempting to roll snow balls down a similar aspect to test the slope I think.

edit: I think it may be Silver or Days Fork

laramie, you likely saw the one in silverfork that was pretty large and nasty. it was also wpg that brought it down with two hand charges. they are allowed to bomb in their permitted areas. incidentally those areas they have permits in are frequented by most local bc skiers. i can't tell if they are just having fun or really trying to figure out whats going on with the snowpack. either way it makes it safer in the now but more dangerous in the future.

Great pics APD,

I saw them on biglines and then knew they had to be posted here.

The charge was definitely the work of the Powder Guides.

Your TR hit home as I skied Red Baldy and Lake Peak with the Wizard (wra?) last year. Awesome area and runs. We skinned up the gut to the ridge where the slide path is. Scary shit seeing your pics.

Nice report. Good to know where these things ripped. I agree, next storm cycle should produce some very interesting results. Maybe the warming will kind of break down those nasty layers a little bit. I plan on hitting the deso lake/powder park area tomorrow.