3/2/11

Howdy all,
It’s been a few days since the last blog, sorry I’ve been busy in the backcountry. Snow for us tapered off last weekend but conditions on Monday in East Vail illusustrated the impact of wind loading has on the zone. With gusty winds out of the SW, standing on top of old mans cornice we could watch as the snow transport trundles over the edge and loads Old Man’s cornice. While other aspects in EV remained tracked and without evidence of new snow the area of old mans was refreshed. Even between runs, the cornice we controlled was filled in again, and even bigger after just two hours.
Snow transport is a huge reason that EV has great conditions, but is an added danger in slab production, especially the top areas under cornices. Two runs in Old Mans were fresh and deep, with the top scarp moving with the cornice cut. The middle skied well and stability below the obvious windload. Waiting now for the real reset button to hit us, waiting for the next warm system to move in. See ya.