Yeah a little past Ashley ridge, right side of cat track going into that gully. Heard no one was caught/found
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Skier's left, Lower Ashley ridge. The hard half.
Not a common spot for a crack but a perfect leeward slope on a firmed up base with some mega windloading coming down both upper Ashley and South Pass traverse.
Most locs have reeled it in quite bit. The overall vibe is def a don't go unless you're really into the snow and are willing to bet on movement close to hand.
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Tram laps were good today. Off piste is good firm crud, carvy and predictable. Visibility has been choppy tho. Groomers are zooming, shaving an inch or three.
40 days of hardpack is beginning to pay off.
I'm easy to find. Maybe Casper at 11 too.
Any visiting mags turning this weekend?
I'm going to be in the area 2/9-2/14 with my dad and 6 y/o. First time to the Jackson area, plan on doing 2-3 days at Targhee(we're staying at the base), I hear the runs above Sacajawea, Peaked Mtn, and Mary's nipple are good bets for fun terrain.
Let me know anything I should know about GT or reccs while there.
I'd love to do a day or two of earning turns while my 6y/o is in lessons. I looked at Yostmark tours and may do that but $400 a day hurts pretty bad. If anyone would be down for letting me tag along that would be amazing! I'm a flatlander but run ~30 miles/week, am up to date on my vaccinations and leg blasters 😉, and have beacon, shovel, and probe. I've also read Tremper's "Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain" which is to say I know nothing but am at least aware of how little I know! I'm also happy to provide post touring beers to sweeten the proposition!
From yesterday's BTAC obs:
1. Crown on lower Columbia ( where some people like to put an uptrack)
2. Maverik, lots of collapsing and cracking, avalanches observed.
3. Large avalanche on Ullr's, lots of cracking observed.
4. Natural avalanches into trail creek (low elevation).
5. Mail Cabin, slide ran into creek and up onto Windy ridge uptrack.
6. JHMR, slab sits on poor structure, avalanches observed.
7. Mail Cabin, IGG Pig, ran full track, sympathetic releases in the trees.
8. Oliver, multiple crowns in the Banana and the Brewer's zone.
9. Mail Cabin, multiple crowns less than an eighth mile apart. Widespread cracking
10. Phillips ridge, avalanche triggered by 3rd skier on slope, slope has seen consistent ski use all season.
That's one day's obs. It may not be historic, and certainly isn't unprecedented, but it's certainly got my attention.
Checking the bc snowpack is certainly not for the faint of heart.
A couple of JHMR guides at work yesterday.
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If you zoom in at the crown, you can see two layers.
We observed that also much lower down on our own
test.
Is any of this really that surprising though?
Most everyone knew we had a PWL. Then we finally get a good cold storm cycle with high winds. Then it warms up drastically. It makes perfect sense that things are extremely touchy right now. In another week to 10 days given the forecasted temps am I wrong in thinking things will be far less reactive as the snowpack has time to settle?
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Not surprising at all, but worth mentioning eh? More data more better.
Now is when things start to get tricky. Load and warm weather will be good for stability, crystals closer together, more bonds per volume and plenty of moisture to grow bonds. But how quickly is it stabilizing? When do you start venturing into steeper terrain? Personally I'm going to let others test the boundaries before I start stepping out.
Just had a pic sent of the entire cliff band above Spacewalk/Zero G ripping wall to wall est 2' crown. SAR heli just flew overhead. That's all I got right now.
Update: patrol had asked late day people hanging in the cabin to hold on incase they needed a probe line, then released them ...sounds like no tracks heading into slide. SAR went past resort to the park and just flew back overhead.
Beautiful day and really fun meadowskipping.
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A little better pic.
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Crown was only about 24", NBD.
Wouldn't surprise me if someone from the cattrack got ejected onto this slope and cracked it. Not enough to bury but steep enough for a fast ride with some collision stuff imminent.
Not surprising above Zero/Space, generally same aspect as Ship's Prow.
Weeks of hard dry conditions followed by a typical windy storm(s) has produced results that most of us kinda foresee and is good input for those with less local mileage.
As PD alluded to, the waiting game for stability now is kinda the long game.
Went for a walk off the top while it was still nice this morning.
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Got really warm and foggy later. A late run was braille.
Saw the helicopter, hope it ended up being nothing.
Light rain on the pass @ 8pm per NWS.
Might go out tomorrow just to take a look.
A friend and I are bringing our ikon passes to the village 2/7-11. hopefully things start bonding and the snow turns back on in feb
This is crazy, raining on the west side
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I see it as percolation, bonding, asphalt, warm toes...
I’ll give credit where credit’s due… the tram ops were killing it on the tunes today.
Pea soup from bottom of Casper to halfway down R trail most of the day. Stuck to tram laps. Bowl was skiing great, so buffed up top and chargeable to the bottom.
Felt good to get out and stretch the legs after a sedentary week with covid.
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A pretty thick slab is forming, still ass to the ground under it, slightly improving ass but ass no doubt.
I had words with that new kook playing classical all last weekend. Then he got another, more polite instructional from the older loc standing beside him, for the entire rest of the trip about how the music is not about the operator.
It's about trying to hit a sweet spot for the group onboard.
On a storm day, first box after waiting for 3 hours in the cold for 16"-36" of drifted blower, we're not gonna tolerate some Taylor Swift shite.
Tram laps, FTW!
Soap Soup.
I laffed when I read how it's going down on yer new box. Most of our newbs are kooks but a few who have a season learned quick that the music is important.
Ya gotta take them by the ears and 'splain it to 'em.
That's how we train them.
zzz taking advantage of a sucker hole yesterday...
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Last night my daughter had her boyfriend over (she's 16 and this is our world right now) and they were in her room listening to classical music, the door must remain open so I overheard the music. She is apparently trying to appear sophisticated or whatever, he's a grade above her. I said to my lady, WTF is with the classical music? And then I remembered doing the same goofy shit when I was her age and then I admitted that that little stage lasted only a minute or two and then I realized that classical music fucking sucks! Anyways, that's a bit of a random story but who the heck thinks that's appropriate for the red box and it's passengers is freaking nuts!
Everybody on that ride is looking for a good time, not a fucking nap time.
Look at the bright side, she wasn’t spinning Barry White and Sadé.
Still watching the weather, and hoping to make a pilgrimage north to y'alls neck of the woods this season. Had an old hip injury start nagging me early season and just getting it under control, might try for early February. Keep posting the stoke here, it's so good.
Which is exactly why you don't want to hear that coming from your daughter's room... :eek: