Thar Peak - Laps on Face

<p>One of the best ski days I have had on the coquihalla in my years of touring. Blower pow right side up made for great conditions - however things were definitely a bit touch and go. We skied a total of 4 laps on thar, some other groups were there for a bit, but still lots of tracks to be had. On our first lap I skied off a slab triggered 25cm down in a gully on the face of Thar - 1.5 on 37 degrees around rocks south facing. Another slab size 1 was triggered further down the draw by the debris flow. Prior to skiing the lap we had discussed the potential problem (wind affected storm snow resulting in size 1-2) and sluff management. I intuitively skied off the slab as I felt the "sluff" become bigger. We had a break after and discussed - we felt that what we had seen was within the realm of our comfort limit albeit at the top of it and that the consequences were manageable. However, we chose to move more onto the south eastern shoulder of Thar were the snow was better and the terrain less steep and convex. Mindset changed from stepping out to status quo/stepping back. We tried to take into account what we were comfortable with and how we could manage the consequences while still skiing the pow. The sluff was definitely running; activity seemed worse near the bottom 1300-1600m than at the top and the convexities were moving. We ski cut a few size 1s on the way out and noticed some other skier triggered slides in that elevation band. Wind was moving from the NW and our skin track was completely covered up top after 1 hour.</p>

Weather Report

<p>Some blowing snow and moderate winds, temperature was measured at the top (1940m)</p>

Terrain Ridden

Convex slopes, Steep slopes, Open trees.

Terrain Avoided

Convex slopes.

Avalanche Conditions

Slab avalanches today or yesterday.

Snow Conditions

Wind affected, Powder.

Weather Conditions

Stormy, Windy, Cloudy.