I spend last weekend teaching an avalanche course in the Mount Baker backcountry. We had some great conditions for teaching an avalanche course with many unstable layers and lots of new snow. The avalanche problems included storm slabs, wind slabs and a deep persistent slab layer. The touring day made for some of the best skiing I have done yet this year. Some amazingly deep snow that stayed light despite some warming temperatures.
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Leavenworth and Stevens Pass Avalanche Course with American Alpine Institute /
Last week I worked another avalanche course for the American Alpine Institute. This turned out to be a great weekend and a great location for an avalanche course since there was some instability in the snow pack. We were able to view some of the instabilities and find some great snow for a nice ski tour. Some photos of the weekend are below.
A think layer of buried surface hoar is located about 40cm below the surface in many parts of the Cascades.
A close up of the crystals.
Skiing the trees
Skiing the trees.
