Quick report
Our team of 2 travelled into GoS with the intentions of skiing The Fingers. As the ridgeline came in to view, we decided to move in to the base of Gulley #3 and assess snow conditions and potentially ski a bigger line. We left Pinkham around 0900 and arrived at the base of the gulley at ~10:30. The snow had tapered off at this point in the day (10-15cm) but visibility still fluctuated with passing clouds and fog. As we moved up the line, we found no "major" red flags. No cracking and a right side up snow pack. We continued up the line, reached the top, still with no "major" red flags. While there were no signs of instability, our points of concern discussed in the planning process were gradient and new snow. We opted to transition in a lower angle portion of the start zone. The key part of our plan came when discussed where we would stop mid-line; below the choke and off to skiers left and out of the main fall line. Skier 1 left the start zone with a slow turn, paused to watch for any collapsing and proceeded to ski the line, through the choke, and out skiers left before stopping. Skier 1 looked uphill to see a dry loose avalanche moving downhill, past skier 1 and in to the base of the ravine. Skier 2 left the start zone and skied left of skier 1's tracks, exited higher left than skier 1 and a smaller dry loose avalanche procceded down the hill and stopped below skier 1. Although the snowpack showed no signs of instability, our key take away was that not all red flags are as obvious as others. While this was caused by sluff and was not incredibly large, had this been in more consequential terrain or others moving up the line, this could have become a far more significant situation. An additional observation about our decision making today is less physical and more emotional. Having skied the same line the day before with incredible conditions, I question how much the stoke from the previous day's laps, fed in to our decision to push in to this terrain again today. Just a personal observation that I think is important to note as a trigger for today as much as the physical impact of a skier on the snowpack.
Avalanche
- Size
- D1.5
- Aspect
- E
- Trigger
- AS
- Elevation
- 4089 ft
Sluff picked up more snow and speed as it moved downhill