Whitewater 5-mile Avi Conditions
Yesterday was storming all day at Whitewater Ski Resort with high winds and heavy snowfall. The Avi rating was high in the alpine and for good reason as you will read below.
We ventured out into 5 Mile via Acidophilus for a few laps in the trees and to see how this new snow was piling up and bonding with the sun crust/melt layer from last Thursday, the day where things warmed rapidly and then froze back up just as fast.
In our West facing hasty pit we dug down below the PWL and performed a compression test and here's what we found:
- Down 21cm CTM 1 we had a layer collapse - this was the consolidated and some what wind packed soft slab snow on top of the melt layer from last Thursday which formed a 3cm unsupportive crust when breaking trail
- Down 31cm CTM 3 we had another collapse but this time not so clean
We skied conservatively for the day not leaving the relative safety of the trees and being aware of wind loading from the new snow.
Some shots of the hasty pit and the release of a small soft slab (top 12cm) we kicked off on a convex roll (click for larger views).
Temps are rising with this new snow and so will the avi danger so play it uber safe if you decide to venture out. Post up some of your observations if you have been out in the past few days so we can all share and benefit. The more eyes on the snow pack the better.
