Steep Creek/Blowdown

<p>Skied near Blowdown peak off Steep Creek. Overcast with light to moderate winds at ridgetop and calm at tree line. HS: 160cm at 1850m. Conditions BTL were crusty with tree bombs. At tree line there was a noticeable crust with fresh snow on top. By ~2100m the crust disappeared. Dropping a cornice tab into the NNE “cappuccino” chute at ~2200m released a large amount of storm slab near the top of the line on a unsupported convex roll in shallow, rocky, windswept terrain. Crown was 40-70cm thick and ~25m wide and ran 300m. It seemed to only entrain surface snow and did not propagate onto nearby snow panels or step down. The cornice itself did entrain some rather large rocks that slid most of the path. </p>

Terrain Ridden

Alpine slopes, Open trees.

Terrain Avoided

Convex slopes.

Avalanche Conditions

Slab avalanches today or yesterday.

Snow Conditions

Powder.

Weather Conditions

Cloudy.