Ski and Avalanche Report – December 3, 2014

SKI – VERY GOOD with 6-8″ new over old-snow making for nice powder skiing in the north Odessey Arena.  Skied laps from mid-mountain in Schoolbus today on BD Converts giving the new gear a shakedown.  Catcher’s Mitt would be a good call.  As we enter the solstice season, the windows for decent light are narrowed to a few hours a day.  Sunrise 9:30 Sunset 3:30

WX – SNOW SHOWERS continue into the weekend with sunny breaks more likely to the north as we are on the edge of high pressure to the east some pesky short waves moving in from the west.

AVALANCHE – MODERATE  Immediately off the highway I encountered collapsing and settlement snow til I turned around at mid mountain as things steepened and sounds of trouble persisted in various features and some big slopes.  The crust layer just under the new snow was reactive in shallow snow areas and whomping, thus these conditions in steeper terrain could collapse to the ground despite pit results, which have been inconclusive with conflicting shear scores. This indicates a highly variable snow pack with pockets of instability across Thompson Pass on the north side at least to Schoolbus. The new snow was driven by mostly SE winds and blown in to deep drifts and sounded unsettled throughout my tour, Though no natural activity was noted, FAIR stability seems like a good call with a trend toward more stable as the snow settles over the next day or so. If you serpentine at moderate angles you can avoid these small areas.

WX – SNOW SHOWERS continue into the weekend , and like today, sunny breaks more likely to the north as we are on the edge of high pressure to the northeast some pesky short waves moving in from the west.  Valdez had 8″ over the past 36 hours.

Additionally, we finished the month of November with only 1″ of snow, a new record.

Old ski  – 1/2 Rocker.                   New ski -Full Rocker