Massive Snow Requires Even More Awareness - When Will Heather Open?
Hi Folks.
This snow fall has been incredible – not unprecedented by any means – but to have two straight weeks of continuous snow accumulating more than 11 feet is simply spectacular. And this is the good stuff – light, fluffy, POWDER, comparable to the champagne associated with Colorado and Utah. It is worth celebrating and enjoying, but we must offer this cautionary note as well.
There is a massive amount of new snow at Mt. Hood Meadows. Our base went from 38 inches on December 15 to 102 inches December 28. This unconsolidated snow pack is creating some hazards that you need to be aware of.
These hazards are most evident in ungroomed areas with trees and less skier compaction. Significant accumulation of unconsolidated snow aka POWDER increases the risk of deep snow immersion. The tree canopy diverts snow from around the tree trunk, creating a well. Tree wells are a common hidden danger on the slopes. When you're out enjoying the snowy wilderness, you may encounter trees that are partially buried. Equally important are trees that have been completely covered in snow. The boughs of the trees create air pockets which can pull you down into the snow if you step on them or fall on them. Tree well information is addressed on our web site at this page: http://www.skihood.com/Mountain/Safety/TreeWells/
Ways to prevent tree well and deep snow accidents:
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Avoid deep snow and treed areas
Skiing or riding in treed areas and deep snow is a choice
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Ski or ride with a partner and keep them in sight
Always stay in visual contact so that they can see you if you fall
Stay close enough to either pull or dig you out
Remember, if you lose visual contact with your partner you could lose your friend
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Ski and ride defensively
Choose areas of widely spaced trees
If you are a skier, remove your pole straps before heading down an ungroomed powder slope
As you ski or ride avoid looking at the trees. Rather look at the areas in between them
If you are sliding toward a tree well or a deep snow bank, do everything you can to avoid going inverted into the snow
Carry a transceiver, shovel, probe and whistle
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Fight to survive
Resist the urge to struggle violently
Make a breathing space around your face
Stay calm
There is an entire web site dedicated to tree well and deep snow safety: http://treewelldeepsnowsafety.com/
Now on to the unstable snow conditions in Heather Canyon, which is directly related to its opening.
With all this new snow it is only natural that our most avid skiers and snowboarders want to know when Heather Canyon is going to open. Heather offers some of the best advanced terrain in the northwest. It’s wide open expansiveness feels like a ski area all its own. The sustained steep pitch propels you from one turn through another, creating an exhilarating rhythmic dance with the mountain. Heather is especially appealing after a powdery snowfall, such as the ones we’ve been receiving.
But all these features that make Heather so attractive for skiing and snowboarding also make it prone to avalanches. The snowfall we have been receiving over the past two weeks has added a different twist to both the science and art of avalanche control work in Heather Canyon. We do not have our normal maritime snow pack and there are layers of deep instability with in the current snow pack. There has been significant natural slide activity recently through out Heather Canyon, as well as in White River Canyon.
So thanks to the abundant snowfall we’ve been able to complete some of the groundwork for getting Heather Canyon open. Most importantly, however, is the remaining avalanche control that has been complicated by the snow pack received to date this season The current storm cycle has prevented us from performing our normal systematic and methodical avalanche control routine. You can’t control what you can’t see, and this series of storms has been raging for two weeks, reducing our avalanche control work to basically “lobbing” explosives into the canyon from the ridge line. This tactic is used to trigger smaller avalanches to prevent the snow from building up to a major, uncontrolled release. Because of the size of the canyon, a variety of techniques are used including hand charges, ski cutting, and gas propelled avalauncher explosive devices.
Our patrollers and Snow Safety personnel go into the canyon during storm cycles on a limited basis and only when necessary due to visibility and safety concerns. Currently Heather Canyon is extremely dangerous, with limited or no visibility and highly unstable conditions. So we must wait until the end of the storm cycle to conduct the required and necessary control work before opening the canyon to the public.
There are other “control” issues - rope and bamboo closures down in the canyon have to be set (and reset as they get knocked down due to heavy snow or by avalanches). The lower terminal requires massive re-grading by cat. It’s a sequential process also. Certain things have to be completed before other tasks can start.
We fully understand how important Heather Canyon is to our guests. We remain committed to providing the resources necessary and the encouragement to our staff to get the Canyon open as quickly as reasonably possible. Ultimately, our professional patrol department makes the decision when the canyon opens and when it closes – and I’ll always respect and support their decision. We must treat Heather Canyon, and all of the terrain at MHM with the respect that it commands – particularly under the current conditions.
NEVER, NEVER ski Heather Canyon, or any other terrain at MHM, when it is marked “CLOSED”. Our staff may be doing control work above when you’re thinking its time to duck a rope and get some freshies. The results could be deadly. The intent of avalanche control work is to increase slope stability by pre-releasing unstable conditions. Why would you want to jump into the Canyon when the very nature of the work above you is to cause an avalanche? When the canyon is closed, it’s closed for a good reason. Additionally, your thoughtless tracks into marked closed areas may inadvertently encourage others to follow you, putting them in harms way. Equally important, if you elect to exercise some very poor judgement and disobey closure signs and/or roped off areas you are potentially placing our dedicated and highly trained patrol personnel at considerable and completely unecessary risk as they attempt to either find or rescue you. Obviously, this behavior is unacceptable and will be dealt with swiftly and severly.
So, when will Heather Canyon open? We anticipate near the end of this current snow cycle, when our Patrol professionals are presented with the conditions necessary to access, assess and accomplish the appropriate avalanche control work. Our commitment is that we will conduct this work as soon as possible and as professionally as possible, so that we can all enjoy Heather Canyon. Please have patience, exercise good judgement, and remember, this whole process repeats after every storm cycle.
As always, have fun, but Be Aware and Live the Code!
--Matt