March 31, 2017

    AVALANCE ACTIVITY:

    A recent slab avalanche in the Callaghan Valley.

   AC yesterday Sz 2 results from heli bombing (Xh) on Whistler yesterday. Kary Firstbrook Pic


    YESTERDAY:

    Early morning light, Callaghan Valley Thursday March 30, 2017.

    Mid mountain cloud layer in the am.

    Callaghan Valley.

    Valley cloud lifted in the am.

    09:15 Thursday morning.

    View from the Whistler Peak at 13;00 Hrs on Thursday.

    Scattered cloud in the afternoon.

    View from Hwy 99.

    Big picture Thursday afternoon.

   A white Black Tusk.

    West Bowl late Thursday afternoon.

    Sunset Thursday evening.


Weather Observations for March 31, 2017: taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters      -8, Winds were 20-30 KPH S  --Horstman Hut 
2180 meters      -7, Winds were 20-25 KPH S  --Whistler Peak
1860 meters      -5, Winds were 10-15 KPH SE--Rendevous
1835 meters      -5, Winds were     0-5 KPH SE--Roundhouse
1650 meters      -4, 0 cm of new snow, 0 cm in 24 hrs, 340 cm Base, RH 93%  --Pig Alley
1550 meters      -3, 0 cm of new snow, 0 cm in 24 hrs, 254 cm Base, RH 94%  --Catskinner 

  660 meters       0, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +11.8, 0.0 mm of Precip recorded yest

    As of 06:45 Hrs we have broken cloud and unlimited visibility.



FORECAST:

A weak upper level ridge is moveing East, with a weak front moving in with unsettled weather this am in a Northwesterly flow aloft. The FL will rise to around 2000 meters today with daytime heating, then drop to around 1200 meters by tonight. The weak frontal system will bring in some flurries this afternoon, with an impulse of snow over night. The front will bring overcast skies for Saturday with some light snowfall in the alpine. The FL should hover in the 1600 meter range. A weak uppper level trough will bring unsettled conditions to the area on Sunday. A weak ridge will bring mostly sumnny skies for Monday.
Guesstimates: 5-10 cm by Saturday morning, 5-10 cm by Saturday morning, trace to 3 cm by Sunday morning.

    GOES IR image from this am. Frontal band is moving in this am.

    High will shift East today allowing a weak frontal band into the zone..

            Looking like the high will move faster than forecasted with overcast conditions Friday.

    Flow for today into Saturday.

           Impulse of snow on Friday night into Saturday.


INFORMATION & OBSERVATIONS:

    Awesome morning Thursday.

    Ice Cap                                                                                                               Kelven Vail image

Hey Wayne this photo was taken yesterday on the Pemberton Icecap. We saw this slope release naturally at around 1:00 pm in the heat of the day, south facing slope, up to 2m crown with 4-5 metre deposit at the deepest part. Size 2.5 maybe a 3.

Kelven

Fom the avalanche in Body Bag Bowl Tuesday March 28, 2017:

What a day. Many of you will know that I'm in Whistler for their winter training as a ski instructor. Part of the course is learning the dangers of skiing in the back country and how to operate safely in a hazardous environment. The team I was out with today have been my family for the last 11 weeks and I'm so happy that I was with them when what happened this afternoon occurred. 

We were skinning up Body Bag Bowl on Blackcomb Mountain when a natural storm avalanche was triggered. 5 of a team of 8 were trekking across a ridge when it hit us. I was adjusting my walking bindings when I heard a call of avalanche behind me. Looking up the next thing I see was white and just white. Myself and my friends had been hit my the full force of a level 2 avalanche and were thrown between 20 to 50 metres down the mountain. If you have ever been caught you know that feeling of oh fu!!, what's happening. That feeling of being weightless whilst having no control is next to no feeling I have ever had before. 

As I emerged I was partial buried and had to dig my legs out which was the same for 3 others on the team. Luckily the front 2 guys and the last member had missed the avalanche by a matter of feet and were on the scene quickly to help where needed. 

As we regrouped we could see that over 250 meters of ridge line had been triggered resulting in a huge surface area being covered in avalanche fallout. The theory is that someone who was skiing disease ridge unintentionally and unknowingly triggered the avalanche 

We are so, so lucky that we are all ok and that no one was seriously hurt. 

If you are still reading this good on you. You actually care about what I have to say. The main message I want to get across that if you are going to ski back country be prepared! Ski with a team, never go out alone because who's going to dig you out if you get buried.

Bring the correct equipment. The basics you need are a avalanche transceiver, a probe and a shovel. These could be the difference between all going home or half of you going home.  

Nothing is certain in this world but I have a new found respect for Mother Nature. This isn't the first avalanche I've been In but it was by the sure the biggest and the scariest. The fact that my family were on hand to help me was the best feeling in the world as they knew me and knew exactly how I would react. I couldn't have asked for a better team to be on hand in this time of serious shitting of pants 

Kind Regards 

Will Payne

    Tantalus Range Thursday morning.

    A large raven.

    The perfect snowman.

    Inflow wind brought out some kitesurfers in Squamish yesterday.


VIDEO FRIDAY:

Trembling Mountain: Langtang Village

Reine Barkered cuts out slab: Haines Alaksa

Very fast Snowmobile: Agent Orange

Quad Cork 1800: Andri Ragetti




ARTICLES:

Rapid Avalanche Deployment Training: Colorado

Training area deemed totally safe the day of the avalanche: Japan

Three cars buried in an avalanche: Norway