This is not the weekend to go backcountry skiing, at least here in the Northwest. Interestingly, the reason for what could be a truly hazadarous weekend for any sort of ski touring, has less to do with the Pacific Northwest and more to do with the Rockies.
“This is the weakest snowpack I have seen in December in the past 20 years,” said Mark Moore, director of the Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center in Seattle.
This isn’t just a short story about the snowpack here in the NW, it’s a lesson for anyone heading out into the backcountry. To make a long story short, our season started very late; we were hardly able to skin up the Muir Snowfield on Mt Rainier during Thanksgiving. But as is always the case, that changed; the entire weather pattern changed literally overnight. Frigid arctic air arrived from the north, and the moisture soon began to fall. Soon enough, our bare slopes were covered with 3-4 ft of blower pow. Great at first, a worry later on, because we all know what happens next…
“It’s a weak structure that, in many places, goes all the way to the ground,” Moore said.
But it’s not just here, in the typically “Cascade Concrete” that is heightening the awareness of avi experts.
It’s weaker and weirder everywhere across the west so far this year, said Paul Baugher, ski patrol director at Crystal Mountain Resort and founder of the Northwest Avalanche Institute.
“We’ve already had two (ski resort) in-area avalanche fatalities this year,” Baugher said.
On Dec. 14, a 27-year-old woman died at Utah’s Snowbird ski resort and on Christmas Day, a 21-year-old man was killed at California’s Squaw Valley ski resort. Both were experienced skiers who were in-bounds when they were caught in avalanches.
This is when backcountry ski freaks go a bit crazy. We’ve had a taste of the good stuff and we want more, a whole lot more. But is it worth it? I think I’ll be grabbing the skate skis this weekend.
Check your local avalanche center website for backcountry ski tour conditions.
