April 9, 2014

    Story and pictures about people skiing above other people from Graham Robertson in articles.

    Looking like a nice start to the day, unsettled weather for today into Thursday.

    Soft Sand Slab release on Wickaninnish Beach.

    Stress cracks from sand erosion.

    Sunset on the Coast last night.



Weather observations for April 9, 2014; taken at 06:00 hrs.

2240 meters      -10, Winds were 15-20 KPH from the SSW
2180 meters        -7, Winds were 20-25 KPH from the S
1860 meters        -7, Winds were 10-20 KPH from the SSE
1835 meters        -7, Winds were 10-20 KPH from the S
1650 meters        -5, 1cm of new snow, Base 251 cm
1550 meters        -4, Trace of new snow, Base 198 cm
  660 meters        -1, Valley Temperature, 8.7 mm of precipitation yesterday, Max Temp yest +11

As of 07:00 hrs in the alpine we have broken clouds and unlimited visibility. In a word its bulletproof.



For the forecast, a flat upper level ridge is building to the south of our zone, this will give us unsettled weather for today into Thursday. A drier Westerly flow aloft will prevail for the next few days. A weak upper trough is forecasted to push through on Friday with light precipitation. This will be followed by a much stronger upper ridge building for the weekend, with sunny skies and warm temperatures.

Minimal avalanche activity in the corridor yesterday, size  1 wind slab, size 2 storm slab, some size 1 wet loose avalanches. A cornice release size 2 to the north was reported.

    Satellite image from yesterday morning.

    Big picture not showing a lot of moisture in the Pacific.


Four killed in avalanche in Pakistan: Badran Village

Snow near Summit Lake is more than 15 feet deep: Colorado

Super El Nino?: 50 Shades of Van

CAC Avalanche Incidents: Database

Two killed in snow avalanche in Central Kashmir: India



Facebook post from Graham Robertson: Pictures taken April 7, 2014.


I was out skiing on Decker today and shooting some pics. I had been avoiding this slope all day and skied the skiers right flank of the north arm of the Decker Gl. There were tons of people out, more than I've seen in all season. I thought I'd position myself on the lower glacier to catch some skiers come off the right line. The Avi rating for the day was rated at moderate in the alpine and there was a warning to be cautious on south facing slopes because of isothermal conditions.
As I sat down to eat lunch I saw two skiers traversing the slope in front of me. All day I had been telling myself how shitty and unsafe that skin track was. It was an accident waiting to happen. Open steep convex slope, wind loaded with the recent 15cm storm snow. It was an enticing line but most people were staying clear of it except one dude who went for it.Just as he rolled over into the steepest part of the slope and saw the two skiers below him the slope released. I was just starting to eat my sandwich and saw it happen. I could not believe it. Luckily it was not a big slide but I kept shooting just to keep track of where I last saw the two people. Crazy!! Luckily they were ok and only lost a hat, pole and a pair of sunnies.
Just goes to show you that regardless of how moderate the avi rating is, you can never be to safe.

Luckily no one was hurt but this is one of the points in the new sign that will be put in place this week.

     Hopefully people who are not in the know will read the sign and use some common sense.

    Sand Cornices were failing yesterday.