Quick report
- Aspect
- South
- Red Flags
- Heavy Snowfall, Rapid Warming, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Elevation
- 2957 m
- Slope Angle
- 30°
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>I was surprised at the lack of warning signals given the recent wind, snowfall and rapid warming. The wind was on the light side and there was no sign of new loading or wind effect.</p>
I went out with the view to turn around at the first sign of trouble I was determined to stay on south facing slopes less than 30 degrees and to stay as far away from the big slide paths as possible. I managed to get to the plateau at about 9700' under Cardiff pass. I skied from there towards the road via Hellgate. I did variations of this run four times. At no point did I see or hear any cracking, settling or natural avalanches. I must say that the visibility was so bad I would have had to be very close to the debris pile to see an avalanche.
As I said, the snow was very upside down but supported my weight both while hiking and skiing. I was looking very hard for signs of trouble and was prepared to turn at any point. Indeed, I expected to do one run of 400 ft. I was surprised at being able to ski the whole day, even if it was a bit messy.
Snowpack
The snow was very much upside down but it kept you on top. Trail breaking was not that bad and the skiing was pretty good.