Little Hector Slide / Hector Ski

<p>New storm snow around the 5 to 10cm range was observed in the Alpine around Mount Hector that had recently fallen. We experienced settling and cracking in the montane, due to punching through near exposed rocks. The radius of the shooting cracks was about 1m. Under the slab was all facets, as expected. At sunrise we crossed a debris field from ~ Size 3 avalanche that would have come off the NE aspect of Little Hector. With the new snow on the debris, we rationalized the slide to have occurred at least a few days earlier. The debris was pushed far out into 0 degree angle terrain, with a large start zone. It is clear that there is still remaining snow to let go further South on that side. We opted to travel on the moraine to bypass the potential runout zone from what was left. The new snow on the glacier was not heavily wind affected, and was not causing any noticeable cleaving on the interface between it and the base slab. We experienced excellent skiing on the descent. The clouds opened up during our decent, and the day quickly became warm at the lower elevations, reaching plus 1 at the car at noon.</p>

Terrain Ridden

Alpine slopes.

Terrain Avoided

Convex slopes, Sunny slopes.

Avalanche Conditions

Whumpfing or drum-like sounds or shooting cracks.

Rapid temperature rise to near zero degrees or wet surface snow.

Snow Conditions

Powder.

Weather Conditions

Warm.