Quick report
I wanted to submit an incident report, but am not sure it’s possible (I didn’t find a form). We were skiing as a party of 5 with an objective to descent Main Gully in GOS. At 12:45 we reached the top of the gully. Snow was extremely hard/icy for the upper 1/2 of the line (starting at ~1300m) until the top. We used crampons. Two other skiers were ahead of us and preparing to descend at the same time. The descent was nothing to be desired. Firm icy snow made it obvious that loosing an edge or loosing control would result in a long tumble down. Our group decided to ski conservatively, prioritizing safety. Two members of our group descended first and then the two other skiers (not from our group) started their descent when one of them lost control and slid loosing at least ~50-70m of vert. They tried to self arrest but lost both poles and skis, bounced off several small trees and finally get stopped by a larger tree. Without that tree, the fall might have been far more consequential. The remainder of our group assisted group #2. The skier that lost control was not injured, but had to be reassured and guided in the remainder of the descent. The bottom 1/2 of the line was enjoyable soft snow. I think as we head into spring conditions but can still experience freezing it’s important to be cognizant of the challenging descent conditions we might face on steep slopes with firm snow so I wanted to share this. There seems to be a sweet spot these days when things have warmed up just enough to be fun, but the things quickly change from firm to soft with sun exposure. Not really avalanche related but thought might be worth it…green rating doesn’t mean safe skiing!