Monthly Archive for January, 2009

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The Wasatch PowderKeg Lives!

Published on January 8, 2009 in Racing. 6 Comments Tags: .

Snatched from the jaws of financial abandonment, I’m psyched to say the Wasatch PowderKeg Ski Mountaineering race will be back again this year by popular demand!  The race was resurrected by a group of my neighbors here in Summit Park (aka Somewhat Dark, or The Alpine Slum), including Chad Brackelsberg, G and Mark Christopherson (of Voile) and many others.  I am the dedicated Spiritual Advisor and for once, perhaps I’ll have a chance to actual partake in the race.

Catagories for almost everyone, including Women’s AT Rec w/child.

The PowderKeg is being reborn as a grassroots effort and Race Director Brackelsberg would love to have any and all help, volunteers (probably no coats this year – sorry), prize donations, and most importantly, racers show up and rock some phat pow on March 14th.  The race is similar to the past four or so years, with the start/finish at the Alta Ski Resort, a variety of equipment categories and a booting section.  Oh, and how could I forget… the moguls will be back as well.  :)

The 2008 PowderKeg start almost had to be delayed as Mt. Superior was in full bloom right at the 7:00am starting gun.

For further details and sign up info, please see www.wasatchpowderkeg.com

Good job Chad, Mark, G and everyone else! 

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Skiing During Wartime

Published on January 7, 2009 in 07 Avalanche Avoidance. 3 Comments Tags: .

The Wasatch Mountains have been getting some good storms lately and it has been dumping snow here all day.  Yippy!  I’ve had to plow out the driveway twice in eight hours, the wind is howling and the avalanche danger is on the rise.  All of which means it is a good time to go skiing this morning. *

Gusting to 34mph with lots of snow. Three feet to the viewers right and this person would be going down in a slide for sure.

Skiing during high avalanche danger is a double edged sword – on one hand there is no better way to experience unstable snow than to stomp around on it, yet at the same time stomping in the wrong area can be lethal.  Here are some thoughts on skiing during periods of high danger:

  • It is more about the experience than the turns.  Pick an ultrasafe area, scale back on your ambitions and think of it as more of a field trip than a skiing tour.
  • Look for low angle terrain and safe ridge-lines.  Especially avoid big hanging fields above you that might naturally release and sweep down on top of you.
  • A like-minded partner is essential to avoid getting peer pressured into steeper terrain.
  • Part of the challenge of going out on deep & dangerous days is to find slopes that are steep enough to ski down, but not steep enough to avalanche.  This may be impossible at times, so be prepared to get shut down and follow your skin track back.
  • Be aware of routes that are 95% safe.  If it is a four mile tour with one little 200′ exposed section, you can bet that during high danger that’s where the accidents will happen. 
  • Practice impeccable safe travel techniques.
There’s a time & place for Meadow Skipping, like during high danger storm days.

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* It was not at all as expected!  I was geared up for a howling blizzard, and it turned out to be a full-on Pineapple Express – warm, balmy, hardly any wind and some really slooooow inverted snow.  The avalanche danger wasn’t anywhere near as touchy as I thought it would be, but then again, we weren’t pushing it too hard either.

The Extended Column Test (ECT)

Published on January 6, 2009 in 07 Avalanche Avoidance. 13 Comments Tags: .

As much as anything, I love learning new snow stability test as I get bored doing the same old ones over and over.  I use to do a lot of Reusch Block tests, but over the years they started getting smaller and smaller.  Nowadays, I’m into digging a pit which is big enough to preform three isolated column tests – one shovel shear, one compression, and then a repeat of whichever of those two seemed most valuable.  I prefer lots of half-assed pits over one mega pit as conditions vary so much.  Because of this, I dig a lot of my pits with my skis on and only spend about 5-10 minutes max per pit.

I was out with Dylan Freed the other day who showed me the Extended Column Test, which I like as it uses the same pit format as the above tests and shows not only weak layers, but also gives you an idea of how easily they will propagate. The test is just like a compression test, except you use an extended, triple-wide column, and thus the name – the Extended Column Test.

Dylan also passed along the written description from the  Applied Snow and Avalanche Research at the University of Calgary which can be found here.

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Monday posting delay due to great skiing

Published on January 4, 2009 in current conditions. 0 Comments

Absolutely KILLER weekend of skiing in the Wasatch!  Photos and details on the ECT Pit test coming later today.

Andrew

Dylan Freed hiking to the Obelisk - Sunday, 4 Jan 2008

Developing an Eye for Angles – Part 2

Published on January 2, 2009 in 07 Avalanche Avoidance. 6 Comments Tags: .

Part of the challenge of correctly identifying slope angles by eye is that they often look much steeper when viewed straight-on than they do from the side.  (This is also a good photography trick – shooting straight-on, like from a helicopter or across a valley makes the slopes look lots steeper).  A classic case of this is Mt. Superior, which when viewed directly across the canyon from Alta or Snowbird, looks really steep, but when you actually ski it, it’s about like a black diamond run at a resort – not too bad. 

The steep looking Monte Cristo Headwall as seen head-on from Mt. Superior. Photo by Carl Skoog
The same 30-degree headwall as seen from the side. Alex Lowe digging a pit.

Something to keep in mind is that your angle-sense changes when you move to different areas.  For instance, the snow in Alaska sticks to steeper slopes than in the Wasatch, so all of those little visual clues you subconsciously pick up on are off.  As a result, I often underestimate my maritime snowpack angles and overestimate the continental ones.

Any way you physically measure a slope is better than nothing, although the generally agreed on best method is to sight down it with an accurate clinometer, or get it from a distant side view.  Measuring it directly on the snow, or on a pole on the snow (as shown in yesterday’s post) may pick up unwanted dips or roll-overs.  Keeping a compass/clinometer in a chest pouch or front zipper pocket makes it easy and painless to grab a quick angle.

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Developing an Eye for Angles – Part 1

Published on January 1, 2009 in 07 Avalanche Avoidance. 0 Comments Tags: .

An experienced car mechanic can look at a nut or bolt from ten feet away and instantly tell you what size it is down to the 64th of an inch.  It is not magic, but more a case of repetitive familiarity within a certain range.  Cars tend to use bolts in the 1/4″ to 1″ range, so after a few hundred times of fitting sockets to them, you start to develop a eye for what size they are.

The same idea applies for slope angles, which in terms of avalanche danger, is a key factor.  Although my eyes/brain are not accurately calibrated for the sub 25-degree range, or over 50-degrees, I can usually pick out a slope angle in the 30-45 degree range to within a degree or so at a glance.  Like a mechanic, this is more the result of first making a guesstimate, then trying it (with a clinometer in the case of a slope).  After doing this a few hundred times you start to get pretty accurate at it.  If I’m with a group, I make everyone guess (including myself) before taking the actual measurement, just for the fun of it.

Checking the slope angle in the Tetons. Photo by Doug Coombs.

The significance of developing an eye for angles is that often, just a few degrees can make a huge difference.  For instance, say you are skinning up a 30 degree ridgeline, which then contours around into a slightly steeper bowl.  In this case, you will be changing aspects (north/south/east/west) AND bumping the angle up towards the prime 38-degree avalanche strike zone.  It is subtle, but within a few feet you can go from relative safety to dangerous.

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