Spooky Snow

<p>Traversing the east side of Standish backcountry on our way over towards Grizzly. The snow is soft and not particularly supportive on this lee side. Everything windward (West facing) is completely wind scoured in the alpine. We were traversing south on relatively benign, rolling terrain (i.e. nothing steep) to get a feel of the snow. We were traveling on a bench with rolling convex slopes above us to our right when I entered an open glade to produce a massive whumpf + settlement. I paused and looked around to see what was the result. My partner and I observed all the slopes surrounding us cracking and sagging. Nothing slid but the area in which the remote instability travelled was substantial, as evident by cracks propagating well above and around us (full 180 degrees). We observed the snow sagging from the cracks on a large convexity in front of us and this whole experience spooked us away from attempting Grizzly glades. We aborted on skiing the nice lee powder and turned around back to the ski resort, keeping well away from the Standish east slopes.</p>

Terrain Avoided

Steep slopes.

Avalanche Conditions

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

Whumpfing or drum-like sounds or shooting cracks.

Snow Conditions

Powder, Wind affected.

Weather Conditions

Sunny, Warm.