Avalanche conditions: Is it worth coming out?

[The Snowman]

Hey Everyone

Just wondering if I could get a no B.S. answer on how the avy conditions are.

Planning on heading out this weekend but am slowly getting scared off from all the reports I am reading (already been on avalance.ca and have been checking the weather network constantly)

If anyone has any input on what they think would be great to get another sledders opinion on it!

I am not a Chicken just being very cautious since I have taken my avalanche courses (seem to be second guessing every hill nowadays)

Let me know!!

The Snowman

 

[2003Summit]

Scared is good. Respect the hills. I still go into the hills when the avy is up, but then I'm a rider who mostly likes the scenery and being outside and up there, I don't climb anything unless it's part of my route or avy is low, and I only ride around areas where there aren’t slides. That is, I stay away from the slopes that could slide due to snow load or angle (pretty obvious to see what might slide one day and just stay away from the slope, never mind analyzing it), stay in well travel areas and of course the few hills I do climb are part of a route and being well traveled and totally disturbed already they don't slide (unless there is a recent large snow load, then I let the 50 or so guys riding around go first and come back a bit later in the day). And don’t sit under too close to a slope either. It’s nice to watch guys climb but I stay a fair bit away. I also only ride areas that I am familiar with and I only ride with lame old farts like me that aren’t into climbing. Paranoid? Ya. Let avy conditions stop me from being outside, not so much, just change where I ride.

I ride in McBride allot. There are some very safe areas in Renshaw, Bell and Lucille. Of course you can go off and get in trouble just about anywhere in Renshaw, just don't. Of course the critical part is you can't have people in your group that will want to either – and that’s the most important thing, and you need to be fully confident in that before you even leave home.

The best avalanche advice I ever got was bring girls with you, and if they won't ride the slope, don't ride it. The hardest thing to do is not ride the slope when another guy wants to – and this is very serous. It sounds like a simple thing, but this is what kills. And it’s seriously really hard to do in practice when you are out there; obviously, or most people would not be caught in one (read the reports, almost everyone in a fatal slide knew it could have slid or someone in the group had a reservation but the group went anyway).

If you stay in the areas that just cannot slide and stay away from the slops, you can still have a great day, but it’s a different type of riding for some – and maybe totally taking all the fun out of it for many. My biggest advantage of all is I’m going with other people that don’t care to go on the slopes either.

 

[SLEDBUNNYRACING]

Well said.

Scared is good. Respect the hills. I still go into the hills when the avy is up, but then I'm a rider who mostly likes the scenery and being outside and up there, I don't climb anything unless it's part of my route or avy is low, and I only ride around areas where there aren’t slides. That is, I stay away from the slopes that could slide due to snow load or angle (pretty obvious to see what might slide one day and just stay away from the slope, never mind analyzing it), stay in well travel areas and of course the few hills I do climb are part of a route and being well traveled and totally disturbed already they don't slide (unless there is a recent large snow load, then I let the 50 or so guys riding around go first and come back a bit later in the day). And don’t sit under too close to a slope either. It’s nice to watch guys climb but I stay a fair bit away. I also only ride areas that I am familiar with and I only ride with lame old farts like me that aren’t into climbing. Paranoid? Ya. Let avy conditions stop me from being outside, not so much, just change where I ride.

I ride in McBride allot. There are some very safe areas in Renshaw, Bell and Lucille. Of course you can go off and get in trouble just about anywhere in Renshaw, just don't. Of course the critical part is you can't have people in your group that will want to either – and that’s the most important thing, and you need to be fully confident in that before you even leave home.

The best avalanche advice I ever got was bring girls with you, and if they won't ride the slope, don't ride it. The hardest thing to do is not ride the slope when another guy wants to – and this is very serous. It sounds like a simple thing, but this is what kills. And it’s seriously really hard to do in practice when you are out there; obviously, or most people would not be caught in one (read the reports, almost everyone in a fatal slide knew it could have slid or someone in the group had a reservation but the group went anyway).

If you stay in the areas that just cannot slide and stay away from the slops, you can still have a great day, but it’s a different type of riding for some – and maybe totally taking all the fun out of it for many. My biggest advantage of all is I’m going with other people that don’t care to go on the slopes either.

 

[BLUE JEWEL]

Hey Everyone

Just wondering if I could get a no B.S. answer on how the avy conditions are.

Planning on heading out this weekend but am slowly getting scared off from all the reports I am reading (already been on avalance.ca and have been checking the weather network constantly)

If anyone has any input on what they think would be great to get another sledders opinion on it!

I am not a Chicken just being very cautious since I have taken my avalanche courses (seem to be second guessing every hill nowadays)

Let me know!!

The Snowman

I am VERY Happy to hear You have taken a Avalanche Course !!!!

Man oh Man ....You sure do look at things WAY Different than You knew before.

When the Avalanche is CONSIDERABLE ! Everyone else is RIGHT !!

Play Safe !! # 1 Rule ...No High marking !! That is VERY Dangerous when the Avey is like this !

LOOK UP & LOOK DOWN

Look up for Loaded Cornices...

Look Down and make sure You won't get caught in a Terrain Trap...

There is still ALOT of FUN to be had !

You are getting out and enjoying the Fresh Air while Veiwing the Majesty of Our Mountains !

You can Float through Endless Powder in the Meadows !

You can go from Blue River to Avola and go to The Log Inn Pub and enjoy a WORLD Famous Burger and Pops !!

Avola is South of Blue River By CAR ....39 Kms.

Avola by Snowmobile ....45 MILES ( Polaris is in Miles that is why I say Miles )

Excellent Ride lots of Miles and You are still enjoying The Scenery and getting out and having Fun in the Mountains !

 

[Depsnolvr]

Great comments on here, so I will not repeat them. Sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders

The last few days of riding, we did not break anything off and witnessed no naturals on the steeper stuff, but that does not mean much. Problem is, if it breaks, it will break BIG. There was a report of a slab avy in Oasis, but I have not heard info from the horses mouth and this area is prone to slide.

Come on out, just play smart, play safe and adjust your riding to the conditions.

 

[Caper11]

Is there any more avy courses in the edson area this year I didn't know there was any being held and apparently there was one on the 9th and i missed it.

 

[Rucky]

Is there any more avy courses in the edson area this year I didn't know there was any being held and apparently there was one on the 9th and i missed it.

Try talking to the guy from Zacs..

 

[SLEDBUNNYRACING]

I would like to comment on the Avy conditions in Golden this past weekend (Jan 18/19/20).

Friday in Silent Pass you could see the heavy snow load on many of the hills (big and small). It wasn't too hard to determine which ones were likely to let go, that being said, you can never tell. We saw very little natural activity on the ride in or in the riding area.
Saturday in Quarts ther risky areas primarly in the more exteme riding spots (area 51/52), but in the family orientated areas it seemed fairly safe. Where you ride will determine your risk. We did see a few heavy loads in small valleys that are sure to let go soon but again, you have to think before you climb.
Sunday in Gorman there were some natural slides on the ride in. These were on the extreme slopes across the road where you can't ride. In the riding areas I only saw one clear avalanche, a few sluffs and that was it. There are a few good pulls that are going to come down eventually. Again caution has to be used.

During our ride we used the buddy system (always know where your group is at), one guy on a hill at a time rule and don't be stupid and park in the path of a potential avalanche.

As far as I know, out of the 35ish riders there were no new Avy's seen.

 

[bigblock600]

anyone rode the myrtle coulees or finn (groundhog) lately?? curious to see how likely the "waterfall" or chute you have to climb (there is that big face you kinda side hill on) at finn right before getting up in the trees is to slide.

 

[snochuk]

Rode at Blue River for the fisrt time on weekend, stayed at the Glacier Mt. Lodge, sledded to the Husky for early breakfast and then up to riding area....no trailering....cool. Don't know the areas well, but I believe first day was at Blue North starting at the dump road. Dug snow pit and along with poor visibility decided big pulls would be to risky. Lots of rock cliffs that we could not see to the top of. Went to the far end of valley where big medow is at the base of climb to alpine. During our lunch break in the valley(about 1hr) we watched 3 small slide come to the valley floor and heard the rumble of 2 others. We were staying about 400' back from the base of steep areas and a sixth slide stopped about 75 yards short of where I was helping my buddy dig his sled out. With his sled idling we did not hear it coming and I looked up and saw it by chance.We would have had no chance to get out of the way in waist deep snow...the sight of the churning snow coming at you will scare the crap out of anybody. We thought we were going to get hit and were just about to pull our ABS handles. None of these slides were more than about a foot deep(however the churning fluff coming at us was about 8' high) and did not have a runout of more than about 200', but I have never seen or heard this much activity before. It was snowing hard the entire time. Yes we spent the rest of the day in the trees and my wife knows none of this. Could not see far enough up to tell where all this was starting from but it had to be releases of fresh snow off of vertical faces as we rode at the area past the big bear on day 2 and rode above treeline and saw no slide activity at all. It was the deepest powder riding I have ever done and will definatly be heading back to B.R. Sorry for the long winded story but it was awsome riding in great powder with extreme snow activity.

 

[SLEDBUNNYRACING]

Thanks for the update. It's always better to hear it from someone who has actually been "there".
Glad to hear everything was good and this is a good reminder for the rest of us to keep on the look out.

Cheerz.

 

[GRD]

Rode at Blue River for the fisrt time on weekend, stayed at the Glacier Mt. Lodge, sledded to the Husky for early breakfast and then up to riding area....no trailering....cool. Don't know the areas well, but I believe first day was at Blue North starting at the dump road. Dug snow pit and along with poor visibility decided big pulls would be to risky. Lots of rock cliffs that we could not see to the top of. Went to the far end of valley where big medow is at the base of climb to alpine. During our lunch break in the valley(about 1hr) we watched 3 small slide come to the valley floor and heard the rumble of 2 others. We were staying about 400' back from the base of steep areas and a sixth slide stopped about 75 yards short of where I was helping my buddy dig his sled out. With his sled idling we did not hear it coming and I looked up and saw it by chance.We would have had no chance to get out of the way in waist deep snow...the sight of the churning snow coming at you will scare the crap out of anybody. We thought we were going to get hit and were just about to pull our ABS handles. None of these slides were more than about a foot deep(however the churning fluff coming at us was about 8' high) and did not have a runout of more than about 200', but I have never seen or heard this much activity before. It was snowing hard the entire time. Yes we spent the rest of the day in the trees and my wife knows none of this. Could not see far enough up to tell where all this was starting from but it had to be releases of fresh snow off of vertical faces as we rode at the area past the big bear on day 2 and rode above treeline and saw no slide activity at all. It was the deepest powder riding I have ever done and will definatly be heading back to B.R. Sorry for the long winded story but it was awsome riding in great powder with extreme snow activity.

Good info to know... It would be great if you could please confirm that the first day was Blue North.

 

[glacier mt lodge]

Good info to know... It would be great if you could please confirm that the first day was Blue North.

We also have a new area over there that the guys broke into last thursday.
It is quite extreme sledding I've been told' but a huge area.

 

[snochuk]

The road in from the dump splits and the left fork goes to the trappers cabin, we stayed to the right and all slides were at the far end of the valley on both sides of the meadow. Met a friend from work while having supper at the sandman. He has ridden the area for about 4 years and he is the one who said it was Blue North. Road groomed to the last cutblock, was not the map carrier and I never took a copy from front desk at Glacier Lodge. I was just a slacker along for the ride.

 

[REVINATOR]

the area snowchuck was talking about is called north blue,we got into another area from the same trail Ithink it is called west blue,huge area lots of untouched powder.

 

[snochuk]

We were the only ones in there all day and the trail in is not for beginners. Saw/heard more avy's in one day than all my riding put together, better know what you're doing if you ride this area. The trail ended at the meadow, it may have gone up the creek to the alpine but conditions did not allow us to climb....just to much activity in the area and we could not see up the mountain to know what we were dealing with. We had a blast and will be back in there again, probed the snow in middle of meadow and two feet deeper than probe!!!!!! Had to dig a hole to touch bottom with the probe. You sank so deep in the powder it was hard to crank nuts. We're comin back in about 2 weeks.

 

[162SKIDOO]

That area ( NORTH BLUE )for those who dont ride or havent ridden blue river before take this into consideration....if you are not with a larger (4 or 5), knowledgable ,well equipped group , i recommend not playing in there because when it snows in there like it always does that area has more dangerous , BIG , mean shoots that you are not even able to get a visual on in fog or light snow conditions. And one of the meanest and biggest is the waterfall which is a chore to get to but at the same time you sit smack in the middle of the chute with really no place to hide yourself or the crew. If ya can't see the windload on the top crest your in some real danger . There are many nice really great areas to ride like FINN OR PARRBERRY or WELLS that are alot safer and still offer the great blue experience. Cuttin it short ...dont go to places over your abilities. Just my 2 cents as i ride that area lots and have seen some crazy stuff in there. Beware and besafe is all. God i hate preachin

 

[2003Summit]

I would rather listen to you be preach'n and be scared then dead.

 

[snochuk]

There were 4 in our group,avy trained, ABS bags and all capable riders. We did a snow pit and when load testing column it failed under minimal load at a depth of 1.1M. Between this failure and the heavy snow blocking any vertical visibility we did NO aggresive climbing and stayed at least 400' back from anything that was steep or resembled a chute. Have googled it since I got home and it is a nasty play area. We had a hoot in the trees and met a group half way out and helped them tow out a dead XP till 8:30PM. 162SKIDOO is correct...not for the inexperienced.