Kindergarten Couloir

Couloir skied great, mostly good snow but some areas where cornice failure avalanches have stripped it down to crust. Be careful if it is sunny. We had a cornice come down on us while boot packing.

While climbing Kindergarten Couloir, a cornice dropped into the gully, creating a large cloud of snow. This was followed by a slide of loose debris that would have been the equivalent of a size one. The debris had properties similar to a loose wet. The cornice did not trigger anything on slope, and there was no crown line higher in the couloir indicating it had triggered a slab. The debris slid the full length of the couloir and had significant power behind it. Our party managed to avoid it by hugging the wall of the couloir. The weather had been cloudy, but the sun had come out thirty minutes prior to the cornice failure. The skiing sure was good though.