Steep Creek Skiing.
Mar 2022, as avalanche danger decreased across the Duffey, it was time to explore a little more.
Firstly, while avy rating for the day was only moderate in alpine, the persistent slab and report of previous slides in the region kept me ever vigilant. Details of avy forecast
Avalanche Summary
A rider triggered a persistent slab avalanche along the Duffey on Wednesday, occurring at 2000 m on a northeast aspect. Another suspected persistent slab avalanche was triggered by a rider on Tuesday in the north of the region. Both slabs were around 30 to 40 cm thick, resulting in small avalanches (size 1 to 1.5). It remains possible that humans could trigger this layer, where it exists.
Looking forward, wind slabs may begin to form on Friday and into the weekend, which may not bond well to underlying layers.
Snowpack Summary
New snow will fall with strong wind, potentially forming small wind slabs in lee terrain features. The snow will accumulate onto variable surfaces. On sun-exposed slopes and on all aspects at low elevations, the snow will build on a hard melt-freeze crust. Elsewhere, it will fall onto previously wind-affected snow at higher elevations and perhaps a thin layer of surface hoar or faceted snow in sheltered areas.
Around 30 to 60 cm deep, sugary faceted grains may be found around a melt-freeze crust that formed February in the north of the region (e.g., Duffey, Hurley). To date, the layer has been most prevalent on north to northeast aspects around 1900 to 2100 m. This layer should be treated as suspect anywhere it exists. Check out this forecaster blog for more info. Various crusts may be found in the south of the region (e.g., Coquihalla, Manning) but reports suggest they are bonding to the snowpack and are not an avalanche concern.
There are no deeper concerns at this time.
Pretty much everything that was in the Avalanche Summary and Snowpack summary from the Avy forecast we encountered on our trip. Our pit showed a faceted layer at 45cm on the northwest aspect at 2000m. However, the weak layer would not pop. We had a lot of wind transport with our skin track being buried in 1 hour. We encounter another skier who witnessed the Tuesday slide.
Armed with that information, we tapered our objectives and skied conservative lines. We stayed away from slopes that could have been baking in the sun the week prior. It did mean we pulled the plug on one run we wanted to do, but when you're spoiled for choices there's always another line around the corner.
