Archive for the '07 Avalanche Avoidance' Category

Low Angle Circuits

Published on March 3, 2010 in 07 Avalanche Avoidance. 5 Comments

Due to the strange snowpack we have this year in the Wasatch, I’ve been skiing new, although not necessarily exciting, terrain.  I have yet to dig a pit as almost every time I go out I’ve felt collapsing, seen natural slides, triggered avalanches with ski cuts or dropped cornices, and/or seen shooting cracks.  Between that and reading the UAC report, it is obvious that the unusual storm patterns have created unusual avalanche conditions and it is best to be patient.  People have been getting away with skiing some steep, north-facing lines (generally The Goods in the Wasatch), but I’m still leery of them.

Doc Brock rockin' the 25 degree Muff Mower.

Instead, I’ve been collecting some obscure crusty lines and piecing together long, low angle skiing circuits.  At first this doesn’t seem like that much fun, but it is a perverse challenge to put together an 8,000′ tour that never gets over 30 degrees and doesn’t involve repetitive laps.  More than anything, these tours are good to have in your repertoire for future high avalanche danger days. So far the skiing has always been better than expected and the snow quality itself is good, although shallow and sensitive.

Yawn. When life gives you dangerous, low angle conditions... go straight down them.

One of the keys to doing low angle tours is finding partners who are into it as well.  Finding partners for steep, exposed, fall-to-your-death terrain is easy, but finding people who are patient and willing to slog can be tough.  It is also hard to sleuth-out terrain in that coveted north-facing, mid elevation, moderate angle, sheltered realm that is new and therefore uncrowded.  The South Face of Superior is big and obvious, but The Eyebrow, Slimy Ridge and Freebird Trees are carefully guarded secrets because they can only handle a few sets of tracks.  Most of the time this type of skiing is just table scraps, but this season it has been the main course.

I am heading over to Beijing, China to present the “Golden Rhino Award for Best Climbing Spirit” on behalf of Mountain Hardwear and will be back on March 8th.  Until then, pray for snow.

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Arches and Avalanches

Published on February 3, 2010 in 07 Avalanche Avoidance. 11 Comments Tags: .

One of the cruelest avalanche tricks out there is the old “I was just minding my own business skinning up a nice valley when suddenly both sides collapsed thousands of feet above me and I was buried 20′ deep.”  It is a mean spirited trick as the skier may be on flat ground far away from the starting zone, and to add insult to injury, it is often fatal.  This particular type of avalanche is different from the “wrong place, wrong time” slide where a skier happens to be below a slope when it decides to cut loose, because in this case, the skier is actually triggering the slide remotely from hundreds/thousands of feet away.

From studying Architecture, this phenomena reminds of an architectural arch, where all of the compression forces are balanced and held in place by a keystone at the top.  Exhibit A below:

A collapsing valley is basically the same thing, except the arch it turned upside down, and instead of carved stones, you have a cohesive slab of snow.  When an unsuspecting skier walks along the base of the valley, he is essentially knocking out the keystone that holds the valley walls up, as illustrated below:

This type of avalanche is very difficult to accurately predict, but not that hard to avoid.  If the snowpack has pronounced collapsing (like the Wasatch has had this season), it means that keystone is being punched out and it would be better to stick to the high ground.  The chances of getting caught in a slide like this are about a million to one (unless you live in Colorado, where it is more like 50/50) and the best defense is to be forewarned.

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Belayed Ski Cuts

Published on January 12, 2010 in 07 Avalanche Avoidance. 10 Comments Tags: .

At times when you want to do a ski cut, but there is no island of safety to ski to, a belayed ski cut comes in handy.  Prime candidates for belayed ski cuts are narrow, steep couloirs with no hiding spots, or the opposite end of the spectrum, wide open faces.

For this type of ropework, simplicity and expediency is desirable as if you get too complex and time consuming, you might decide that it’s not worth going to the effort of pulling out the rope, and thus skip it.  For this reason, I keep ski cutting belays as basic as possible – skip the harness and tie the rope directly around the cuttee’s waist, and then use a hip belay from above.  Total ingredients – one rope and about 60 seconds. Continue reading ‘Belayed Ski Cuts’

Ski Cutting

Published on January 11, 2010 in 07 Avalanche Avoidance. 10 Comments Tags: .

Along with cornice stomping, I also do a lot of ski cuts before skiing a slope. Ski cuts are quite a bit dicier than cornice stomping as you have to actually get down on the slope and try to trigger a slide. Because of this, I am usually fairly confident that a slope won’t slide before I give it a ski cut, but do so anyways as a matter of habit. You never know.

If there is no “island of safety” to ski to, it might be better to find another slope rather than ski cut your way into the middle of an exposed slope and stop. Another critical element of ski cuts is to do them as aggressively as possible, like, really down-weight on the slope as you move over it. This is akin to bounce testing aid-climbing gear where the idea is to load it up as hard as possible so that if it is going to blow, you want it to go when you are expecting it, not as a surprise later on.

In the photo below, the “X” marks show where I’d really bounce on the slope.  Notice on this slope I’d lose quite a bit of vertical with this ski cut (probably 100′ vertical feet), but it is important to both keep your speed up AND bounce as hard as possible, which means you are going to blow some vert in the process. The ridge at the end of the red line would form a so-so island of safe – not bad, but not great either.  I’d prefer a cliff or rock to hide under. Continue reading ‘Ski Cutting’

Cornice Stomping

Published on January 5, 2010 in 07 Avalanche Avoidance. 11 Comments Tags: .

Stomping cornices is by far and away my favorite and most used snow stability assessment technique.  Test slopes are a close second, but there is a lot to be learned from dropping a big fat ol’ cornice directly onto a loaded slope and seeing what happens.  I like cornice stomping as it is something you can do on the fly as you are skinning along, plus it is perversely satisfying in a pyromania like of way. Cornholiomania perhaps.

If the slope below the cornice has little to no consequences, I’ll usually go right up to it and start stomping.  I’ve taken a few rides, but if it is a mellow little slope, it is almost more like cow-tipping and the learning experience is well worth it.  If the slope is more dangerous (longer, trees, terrain traps, etc), I’ll hold onto a partner’s poles or approach it more cautiously. Continue reading ‘Cornice Stomping’

Selective Stopping Spots

Published on March 12, 2009 in 07 Avalanche Avoidance. 7 Comments Tags: .

One of the basics of avalanche avoidance and good backcountry travel protocol is to always stop below your partner(s), not above them.  The reason for this is two-fold; one is that you might blow your last turn and take out your partners from above, and the other is that the weight of a stopping person may cause the slope to fracture, especially if it is already weighted by another person.  If this happens, it often breaks right at the top person’s skis and then takes the lower person for a ride.  I had this happen once and it was almost a slow-motion comedy.  I had stopped, then my partner skied up behind me, came to a stop, the slope fractured at this edges and I started to get swept away, but not before I said “Thanks.” to which he said “Sorry.” It had a happy ending as I was able to grab onto a tree, but ever since then, I go out of my way to stop in places where my partners will have a hard time stopping above me.

 

It is a subtle difference (and kind of a bad photo to illustrate the point), but stopping position “A” is much better for the first person than stopping point “B” although both are about the same as far as being protected from an avalanche coming down from above.  Position “A” is tucked right up underneath a rock, which doesn’t leave the second skier any other chance BUT to stop below you.

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Leapfrogging to Safety

Published on March 11, 2009 in 07 Avalanche Avoidance. 5 Comments Tags: .

Whenever possible, I prefer to ski a couloir or avalanche exposed shot in leapfrogging segments.  The idea is that one person skis, then tucks out in a safe spot and watches the other person, then they do the same.  Ideally, the stopping points will be staggered so that you can see your partner at all times as they are coming towards you and going by.

Polly booting up a couloir in the Atlas Mountains, Morocco. The numbers illustrate the sequence of descent and are probably exaggerated for this particular couloir - it could be done with about half the stops.

This process keeps the ski descent moving along quickly (time is of the essence in avalanche terrain) and allows both people to have clean lines.  Another benefit is that you are never very far removed from your partner should they get caught in a slide.  Skiing an entire shot all at once is great for minimizing your exposure, but if the following partner gets caught in a slide that buries him/her halfway up the chute, being down at the bottom means a long, slow hike to get back up.

One of the keys to doing this style of skiing is to have the first person only ski a short half-shot to begin with, which then sets the team up for the rest of the descent.  It may not be the most social way to ski, but it is safer and efficient.  When you are done, you can always talk at the bottom.

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Faith Base Skinning

Published on January 12, 2009 in 07 Avalanche Avoidance. 2 Comments Tags: .
While skinning up a steep, exposed slope today in a total white-out, it occurred to me that we were engaging in Faith Based Skinning.  Faith Based Skinning (FBS) is when you feel nervous about a slope, but continue on anyway because, well, nothing bad has happened yet.  This is not such a great idea.  I consider snowpacks to be guilty until proven innocent and although I’m tempted to take shortcuts, it is surprising how many times I’ve avoided random avalanches by taking a safer route up, even if it was much longer.
A large avalanche covering some Faith Based Skinning tracks. It appeared to be safe, but why not give it the benefit of doubt and go a bit wider?
A large avalanche covering some Faith Based Skinning tracks. It appeared to be safe, but why not give it the benefit of doubt and go a bit wider?
 
A close cousin to Faith Base Skinning is Faith Based Skiing (also FBS).  Faith Base Skiing often happens during periods of increasing stability when people (like me) are sick of skiing Geh Flat Powder and decide to ski a steeper line.  This in itself isn’t so bad, but I try to ease into steeper skiing by nibbling around the edges of more protected terrain, rather than center-punching a slope based on nothing more than faith that it won’t slide. 
Faith Based Skiing gone awary. Why tempt fate with an exposed line when other options are available?
Faith Based Skiing gone awry. Why tempt fate with an exposed line when other options are available?

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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. 12 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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