Category: PIts

Ventured up Obsession from Worthington Glacier State Park, crossing the road and meandering carefully to mid-mountain. The differences in snow depth from the road to 3500 was “obese”, if that word is allowed to describe the snowpack I encountered.  I’ve never probed 240cm at this site.  Nearly a third of the depth is new storm snow….and there is more on […]

SKI/AVALANCHE – With Thompson Pass recovering from winds to 50mph and temps to -7F, obviously stability issues have developed over the past few days. Snowpack retention remains excellent with very little scouring of our deep upper mountain snowpack. Mid-mountain protected areas of course will hold some patches of powder but expect some slab issues to assess. Today seemed like a […]

With a change in wind direction, Moonlight Basin to the base of South Odessey Gulley kept me in calm conditions with occasional flurries and flat-light descent.   Pitted the base of South Odessey Gulley and low and behold, found that thick ice layer that I’d pretty much forgotten about. Still stout in regards to deeper instabilities, so concern remains CONSIDERABLE […]

Excellent skiing conditions dominate Thompson Pass after another round of heavy snow yesterday.  Skinned in from Worthington Glacier towards Catchers Mitt for something different.   Deep, trail breaking but worth the effort.  Some imperfections in the form of soft wind slabs mixed with dry snow made for nice turns. Avalanche – Worth discussing as I did not encounter any whomping […]

Specifically went for better pit data today.  Continued whomping, inconclusive pit test, lack of natural activity with oddly….abundant skier triggered events all add up to red flags.  Skied up onto Worthington Glacier as an ideal place for a pit as the snowpack is undisturbed by wind and drifting which is compounding these variable and unique conditions.  With a perfect test […]

Route and pit picture from this am.  Flurries in the forecast.