Entrenchment – Dealing with a well-established persistent instability. Entrenchment (not a preferred operating mode) requires discipline to sustain it for the necessary time; this is the last resort short of closing operations completely.
Limit skiing to a small terrain selection assessed as having acceptable risk until the situation has clearly changed. New evidence continues to be gathered and monitored for changing conditions, but new terrain is only considered for opening if there is compelling evidence to do so (for example if an avalanche was observed that definitely removed the layer of concern).
Entrenchment mode is a successful operating strategy for persistent slab instabilities.Establish a limited base of acceptable operating terrain and be disciplined to operate only within that designated terrain as long as necessary for the persistent instability to run its course. Expect this to take longer than anticipated and do not step out into new terrain prematurely. Plan to maintain this discipline beyond the time when all evidence seems to indicate that the persistent instability is no longer a concern.
When dealing with persistent instabilities, discipline is more likely to be successful than cleverness –it is better to wait out the instability than to try to outsmart it.
Route
Snowcat to North Soda pickup. Skied 2x in North Pole
Weather
AM Obs: CLR, Mod W wind, 15F @ Tower
PM Obs: OVC, Mod/Strong W wind, 23F @ Tower
HS 240-300cm, HN24 0cm
Storm snow has settled. Wind was moving lots of snow around creating features and affecting the snow surface.
HSN24
0"
Sky
CLR > OVC
Winds
Mod/Strong W
Temps
15-23F
Snowpack Observations
HS 240-300cm, HN24 0cm. Storm snow settled but still soft on upper N facing terrain (North Pole zone). Wind was moving lots of snow around creating features and affecting the snow surface.
Avalanche Activity
None observed
Suprises
Storm snow settled significantly over the past 48hrs. Winds stronger than expected & moving lots of snow around.
Greatest Risk
Today’s plan and terrain selection was consistent with the Fx and plan. Greatest risks we encountered were tree wells, tree bombs, and the potential for falling trees.
Hindsight
Kept it super mellow and stayed off avi terrain.
Take-aways
Large groups of never-evers pose their own sets of challenges. Ski Haus gear was not dialed. Plan to spend extra time in the morning practicing transitions & making sure all the gear works.
Challenges
Upper elevation slopes saw a lot of wind effect today. Still tons of room to play in North Pole as we only skied 2 runs skier’s right of Toilet Bowl chute.