This midweek snowfall has skiers and riders envisioning waist-deep powder runs in the Vermont backcountry, but Stowe Mountain Rescue and Stowe Mountain Resort are warning that the snow creates a perfect and dangerous scenario for avalanches.
The resort’s Mountain Operations crews will have the trails groomed, but the gladed areas, both in-bounds and backcountry, are risky, said resort spokesman Jeff Wise.
“The surface from last week’s thaw-freeze cycle that’s underneath the new snowfall make for unpredictable conditions in gladed areas,” Wise said Wednesday, as heavy flakes fell throughout the day.
Wise said the resort is using an array of tools, from the snow phone to online condition reports to the sign-boards at the lifts, to warn skiers and riders “to avoid areas that haven’t been groomed,” Wise said.
Because of the thaw-freeze combination last week, the layer of snow under Wednesday’s puffy powder has the potential to let that powder slide right off, until all the layers have a chance to bond.
The powder also has the potential make things look a lot softer than they are, and a spill on a high-angled pitch in the woods could result in a long, dangerous slide, with little opportunity for self-arrest on the hardpack under the powder.
Stowe Mountain Rescue posted the following notice on its Facebook page Tuesday afternoon, the day before the storm:
“If the forecast for a foot or more of snow this week holds, skiers, climbers and hikers should proceed into backcountry alpine areas with caution. Current conditions are extremely icy and hard, creating potentially dangerous scenarios.
“First, human-triggered and natural avalanches are possible, particularly on steep, wind-loaded terrain. This storm will place a heavy load of snow on top of a firm, slick layer of hardpack. Avalanche assessment skills and equipment will be necessary in alpine terrain, particularly around the Mount Mansfield summit, Smugglers Notch gullies (not the in-bounds terrain at Smugglers’ Notch ski resort), and other alpine zones.
“The hard layer also creates the potential for uncontrolled slides, particularly on wind-scoured surfaces that do not become buried in snow, or in areas where the new snow is poorly bonded to the hardpack layer. There have been reports of people going into uncontrolled slides resulting in severe injury in Vermont this week.”
Indeed, chatter on ski and ride groups on Facebook included a mix of cocky nonchalance and sober cautionary language, much of the latter coming from veteran skiers and riders familiar with the local terrain.
Mountain Rescue Chief Doug Veliko said another concern is the prevalence of hidden stream wells, deep pits in the snowpack that are the result of so much snow falling and creating a base in November that the ground and streams never got a chance to freeze. With big storms like Wednesday’s, “the pits fill in with the loose, unconsolidated snow, masking the hazard.”
“A skier goes over the steam well, it collapses and the skier is now in a pit 7 to 10 feet in depth,” Veliko wrote in an email Wednesday. “Depending on the geometry, they can be impossible to extricate yourself from.”
Injured hiker evacuated
In an incident Sunday afternoon, a hiker was reportedly seriously injured and had to be evacuated by helicopter after he ascended Mount Mansfield via the Long Trail and exited via the ski resort trails, sliding a long distance into the woods.
According to Wise, resort guests found the injured hiker and called for help. Mount Mansfield Ski Patrol responded and transported the hiker off the mountain; he was then airlifted to the hospital.
Stowe Mountain Rescue was not involved in Sunday’s evacuation and the Stowe Police Department could not be reached by deadline for more details.
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