Quick report
- Cracking
- isolated
We set off today with the intent of skiing the prominent finger on the north side of voodoo bowl. We anticipated a wind slab problem on south and southwest facing aspects due to recent winds from the north and northeast. What we found was the opposite: wind slab conditions existed but on north and northwest facing aspects. The wind was blowing out of the southwest up to 50 mph instead of the northeast as forecasted. Due to a strong wind buff on the southward aspects, we pivoted and planned to ski the north and northwest aspects of the same finger. Test slopes revealed significant reactivity with cracking in the wind-pillow areas. To further investigate stability, we dug a pit on a north-facing aspect at near treeline elevation. This pit revealed a strong snowpack with no fracturing occurring during either a compression or extended column test. We decided to avoid obviously wind loaded areas and had a nice ride through the trees.