Paddy/Panacea Peak

<p>We skied the pocket glacier to the east of Paddy/Panacea peak because weather from the north often brings more snow to the Powder Valley area than White Pass. 30cm of low density new snow sits on on the ground bellow tree line make for an easy approach up the road, but descending at the end of day the was hazardous to skis and knees. The alpine is highly wind affected, wind exposed terrain has been stripped down to the ground in many places and supportive, hard windslabs in lee terrain were wumphing under the weight of a skier. We saw several recent small loose and slab avalanches on north through east aspects on the approach. We were concerned about triggering windslabs from bellow as we gained the Paddy Peak moraine and so we cautiously chose supported terrain and minimized our exposure to steeper slopes overhead and terrain traps. We found good turns on the glacier with 20cm of settling new snow and an average snow-depth of around 120cm. If you are thinking about heading out that way take a look at the winds recorded at the Mt Anderson weather station on the YAA website, strong south winds could things dramatically change things for the worse.</p>

Terrain Ridden

Alpine slopes.

Terrain Avoided

Steep slopes, Convex slopes.

Avalanche Conditions

30cm + of new snow, or significant drifting, or rain in the last 48 hours.

Slab avalanches today or yesterday.

Whumpfing or drum-like sounds or shooting cracks.

Snow Conditions

Wind affected, Powder.

Weather Conditions

Cloudy.