Advanced Avalanche Skills Presentation

Considering the weather we’ve had in the Wasatch this winter, it’s a sad state of affairs to have been under even this low point of late. But, under the weather I have been. Heading down the road to wellness, but not in condition to join in on the night racing scene, I decided to check out the relatively impromptu avalanche talk held Thursday night at Back Diamond. Billed as advanced avalanche skills for those who like to ski steep lines, I was curious if there were any secrets being kept as compared to the daily avalanche warning, err, forecast, coming out of the Utah Avalanche Center this year.

Impromptu or not, this three-speaker night was about as popular as the recent SkiLink protest – standing room only after all the chairs, floor space, and anywhere else one could sit were accounted for.

UAC forecaster extraordinaire Brett Kobernik went first, regaling the audience with closeup pics of snow crystals and snow temperature measurements. For anyone who hasn’t chanced to hear ‘Cowboy’ speak, you’ll be in for a treat when you finally do. His best zinger came when he expressed great excitement over something like seeing surface hoar grow. ‘I really like watching this stuff grow,’ he said, then quickly countered with, ‘Not that any of us want to see surface hoar out there.’ (not verbatim) His affinity towards snow science might just be greater than his affinity towards skiing. That’s probably just the right characteristic out of an avalanche forecaster.

Dave Richards, currently in Alta’s Ski patrol and thus responsible for dropping more ordnance than many folks who’ve spent time in the military, spoke second. Two of his points seemed more eye-opening than others I heard.

First, he contends that Alta (or Utah ski areas in general?) is dealing with the same fragile, unstable snowpack that backcountry users are. This is due to a lack of skier compaction of the snow on steeper slopes, combined with the long snow drought that greeted the Wasatch in late November, throughout December, and into much of January. That drought caused conditions ripe for the creation of a rotten snow layer on the ground – nothing new to readers of this site. What was surprising was that bombing and other avalanche mitigation techniques have not alleviated the inbounds dangers in the fashion that they usually do.

Second, Richards contends that avalanche pockets are pulling out far, far lower on the slope this year than is typical. That’s something to remember for those who like to head up beneath a steeper slope and dig a pit to check on conditions above. Also good to remember for those who just ski the aprons; these lower angle slopes aren’t necessarily safe – this year.

In this  exceptionally bad Utah snow year, the snowpack has shaped up differently than is common – deep slab instabilities and a persistent weak layer are repeatable mantras. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve heard of this referred to as a once-in-30-year snowpack. But weren’t these same conditions of deeply buried, persistent weak layers the case just two years ago? Maybe once-in-30-year snowpacks happen a little more frequently.

Last up was Andrew McLean. My favorite aspect of his presentation – aside from juxtaposing Wall Street and the present snowpack – was his reminder that partner selection is more critical than almost anything else. Selecting partners who won’t ratchet up the day’s goal is key. That means you’ve got to have partners who are just as concerned with coming home alive at the end of the ski day as they were at the outset.

Almost everyone agrees to ski safe terrain (based on that day’s conditions) during the ski invite process. But Andrew pointed out that it’s important to know who will try to ramp it up throughout the day, such that you’re both seriously considering getting into terrain more suitable for a more stable snowpack. It’s proven that groups think more poorly than individuals. Some people have that contagious energy that can get you both, or your entire party, into trouble. Knowing who they are – and possibly not skiing with them at all – may be just as important to avalanche safety as any snowpack analysis this season.

Fortunately, there’s a little snow in the forecast after the gift from the past day. That should add some new variables to the avalanche avoidance scenarios. Repeating this year’s long-running theme: keep it safe. The news has long been out – the local snowpack isn’t becoming a lot safer anytime soon.

You’ve got the rest of your life to ski rowdier lines. It’s just like Warren Miller said long ago: If you don’t ski it this year, you’ll be another year older when you do. For most people, being one year older isn’t really that big of a problem.

Perhaps the true secret of staying in one piece out there comes down to a name change. Maybe the billing of Advanced Avalanche Skills will be renamed to Advanced Partner Selection Skills for future presentations.