Saturday, March 6, 2010

Bogus Sidecountry

Earlier today I had the opportunity to ski the Bogus Basin sidecountry with a friend and had lots of fun. The relaxed start was nice, and after losing each other and finding each other, we were off to the races. We ended up going to the same area that my dad went with my brother (check it out below).

The skiing was fun, because although there was a breakable crust, it had an interesting effect. Instead of catching your turn, it acted like a trampoline that let you bounce up and down.

While taking in the gorgeous views and eating lunch we also were able to collect same data. The primary concern was a surface hoar layer buried about 40 cm down. Although there was no propagation, the CTs were in the moderates and it definitely was energetic (Q1). The second thing we saw was that in the top 5-10 cm there was a layer failing in the easy CT range. Upon further looking the culprits of this potential future instability were near-surface facets. Also interesting to note, on the 40 down SH layer you could look with bare eyes (or magnifying glass) and see the surface hoar laying down.

Although we decided that jumping on the steep NW rockband coulours may not have been a good idea, we still had some great shots. It was definitely a little technical below the tree line, but that is part of the backcountry experience!

Pedro Rodriguez