2008, by powderjunky

Skiing the goods in a nice low angle grade

With all the high wind and frequent snow, I have been eager to see what the snow pack looks like these days. We dug these pits when the danger was high.

Avalanche Report for Teton Pass

The first pit in the video is on an easterly aspect at around 8700 ft and 30 degrees. It gets skied quite often and proved to be substantially more stable than the next pit we dug. However this east facing pit did shear six inches down and than again about a foot and a half down both with moderate effort.

The second pit was on a north aspect, a little steeper, and not skied often if at all. It did not support body weight when stepping out on the block and slid on that layer about a foot and a half down. After that it was pretty stable.

Two different spots relatively close to each other with very different results.

This helps confirm my theory that as soon as you venture off the beaten path of the commonly skied lines of the pass, the danger goes way up.

Note: This data is just one piece of information and should not be the determining factor whether a slope is safe or not. Use this as a reference to compare against your own conclusions and observations.

Powder Mountain is True to its Name

McLovin It