Small avalanche just above the Meadows in Garnet Canyon today.
Well, looks like I went 1 for 3 this week…scoring a fun descent yesterday, but today, high winds shutdown a planned descent in Garnet Canyon. I have a feeling a few other groups got turned around as well, since the forecast was for mostly sunny skies. Unfortunately, the winds were blowing around 30mph during the morning hours and keeping the peaks socked in above about 11,000′. It looks like groups that got a later start might have scored though, as it looked like things might have settled down by the time we got to the parking lot. Don’t you hate when that happens?!
Largest part of the crown estimated at 3 feet.
Interestingly enough, I managed to find the sweet spot below the Cave Couloir and triggered a small avalanche. Nothing too scary, but kinda of out of the blue, seeings how the skin track up to the South Fork of Garnet Canyon often follows more or less the lookers left hand side of the crown. It knocked me down, but I managed to upright myself quickly and ski out unscathed. Not a killer slide, but a good wake up call for sure.
What did you ski yesterday? I think you were right behind us, we left the lot at 430.It was cold and windy up there huh. That crown was a suprise, I went up just to the left of it yesterday. We hung out on the summit of the south for a while waiting for it to clear. Lots of sucker holes all day. The se couloir was really filled in. This spring is gonna be great!
Teewinot. The Narrows were completely buried. Left the lot at 5. Saw some people lurking by their cars as we pulled in.
Wonder if anyone has scored the GT in the past few days. I’m sure a few have tried…but the weather has been a little bit of a tease.
How many slides have you triggered this year? Nobody wants to see anything happen to you! Please be more respectful of the mountains!!! It seems like you make lots of decisions that are questionable, and have had several close calls this year. Be careful!
Trent,
I feel I am very conservative in the mountains and I would hesitate to judge any decisions I make as ‘questionable’.
A fact of skiing the backcountry is avalanches. You will hear about the ones from someone that has a blog…others…maybe not so much. The trick is to stay away from the big ones.
Interesting that someone who does not ski with you and was not present on any of your trips would judge you as having made “LOTS” of “questionable” decisions. I guess that is one of the pitfalls of being under the microscope and writing a blog. Of course, there are plenty of folks who think simply going into the backcountry is a “questionable” activity. It’s really all a matter of personal acceptance of risk. I remember Ed Viesturs trying to bag his final 8,000 meter peak, Annapurna, when he turned around because of “avalanche danger.” Two French guys right behind him kept going and tagged the summit. Who was right?
As someone who has skied with you on numerous occasions, I find our approach to each day’s objective to be both respectful and calculated, to the degree that is possible in an relatively unpredictable environment. I think that often times our perception of the level of risk and the actual danger are different. Making keen observations, digging pits, reading avi reports, etc. are all ways we try to bring those two factors closer together. Ultimately, however, the more time one spends in front of the gun barrel (skiing in the backcountry)the more likely one will experience an instability event, to one degree or another. Like Steve said, the trick is avoiding the big ones.
Well said Brian. Thanks!
Trent, I’ve skied with Steve on a few occasions of late (not near as many as Brian) and I find his decision-making to be quite appropriate.
Either support your assertions with point-by-point evidence and analysis or retract them.
well, in Steve’s vocabulary, “conservative” is perhaps more of a state of art.
not so sure skiing off of buck in powder is “conservative”, certainly calculated.
brin’s comment is dead on. the risks are always there, one way or the other. so is dealing with them. our risks are our own decisions, tempered by the events of our present day situation, which molds what level of risk we can stomach.
Trent’s comment is simply one from a person that misunderstands recreation in the alpine.
Trent, seems you’re getting a little lambasted here, but said responses seem appropriate (even though your comment voices concern). The “safest” skiers do not always come home and it is about risk management and personal responsibility. As Brian noted, just because some snow moves around does not mean the practice was “unsafe;” it is the nature-of-the-beast. Besides, folks ski the Backcountry because the mundane is not tolerable. I’m not advocating unsafe skiing practices and I often turn away from beautiful powder slopes after lengthy approaches. But to me the drive to and from the hill is still the most dangerous aspect of the day, and, sorry to be fatalistic, the world is not a safe place and nobody is getting out of here alive…
I think trent’s heart is in the right place and doesn’t need to be attacked.
The difference lies in that everybody has their own level of risk. I for one would not ski a lot of the lines steve skis until a good melt freeze cycle occurs, just to be sure the avalanche danger is minimal.
But that doesn’t mean steve is in the wrong. He is willing to get after it and share it with us (which is awesome, thanks steve!). And the fact that he is still around is somewhat of a testimony that he is doing it as safe as possible in the conditions he chooses to go out in.
The great thing about backcountry skiing is that no matter what your level of risk is, you can still have fun and get after it!
Here’s to a great spring!