Report from Monday, February 23, 2021

Brought to you by 10 Barrel Brewing

Yesterday morning the weather was insane.

Very windy, dumping snow, no visibility, and no new snow overnight.

We slept in and didn’t leave the house until after noon.

Then, the sun came out but the wind kept howling.

We went for a walk and it snowed enough to make the skiing good.

We skied a long chute in fun, dense, wind-pressed snow that was fast & fun & uniform.

On our way out of the zone, we stumbled upon a moose with her baby.

Fox said “Whoa” kinda loud and scared the baby who ran at the mom and spooked the mom and the mom charged Fox with her head down and we both started poling and scooting on our skis for our lives.

Luckily, she halted her charge only about 2 or 3 feet away from Fox and backed off.

Was crazy!

We did see some instability out there.

Ski cuts on steep rollovers produced 4″ deep fractures that broke small and didn’t run far in the zone we skied.

There wasn’t much new snow in the zone we visited but the wind had whipped it into a small dense windslab.

The Tetons are scary right now with windslab and a deep persistent weak layer.

A skier was killed in Broken Thumb Couloir in Grand Teton National Park on Monday and a snowmobiler was seriously injured in an avalanche yesterday.

Please be safe and please always check the avalanche forecast at Avalanche.org.

“Yesterday a snowmobiler was seriously injured when he was caught and partially buried in a slide on a southeast aspect of Mt. Leidy in the Togwotee Pass area. A snowboarder died in an avalanche in the Teton Range on Monday. Avalanche fatalities occurred on Togwotee Pass on February 18 and in the Greys River area on February 17. Several very large slab avalanches were observed to have naturally released in the Tetons yesterday. One of these was nearly 8 feet deep. Yesterday’s strong winds created new wind slabs. Deep persistent slab avalanches are still a possibility. Most avalanche fatalities occur during periods of considerable or moderate hazard. It is critical that skiers and riders make terrain choices that are appropriate for today’s dangerous conditions. Play it safe and come home to your friends and family.”

– JHavalanche.org, 2/24/21

2020/21 Backcountry Reports:

• 2/23/21 – Teton Range, WY Report: Gorgeous Wind-Rippled Powder Chutes & A Moose Attack
• 2/19/21 – Teton Range, WY Report: One of the Deepest Days of Our Lives…
• 2/17/21 – Teton Range, WY Report: Bluebird Powder Skiing in Deep Snow & Sunshine
• 2/15/21 – Teton Range, WY Report: Pillow Poppin’ Deepness…
• 2/14/21 – Teton Range, WY Report: 4 Fun Cliff Hucks and 1 Amazing, Wide-Open Run in Perfect Powder
• 2/13/21 – Teton Range, WY Report: Faceshots, Backflips, & Really Long Chutes
• 2/12/21 – Teton Range, WY Report: 3 Fast, Crazy Fun Chutes in Great Snow & Face-Shots
• 2/10/21 – Teton Range, WY Report: A Really Rad Chute in Really Rough Snow
• 2/8/21 – Teton Range, WY Report: 2 Awesome Chutes in Good Snow
• 2/5/21 – Terminal Cancer Couloir, NV Report: A Close Avalanche Call + a Lesson in the Wind
• 1/30/21 – Tahoe, CA Backcountry Report: Deep Powder & Steep Lines Above Lake Tahoe
• 1/26/21 – Tahoe, CA Backcountry Report: Deep, Light, Sunny Powder
• 1/23/21 – Teton Range, WY Report: Deep, Dense, Hot, & Crusty
• 1/22/21 – Teton Range, WY Report: Deep & Boney…
• 1/20/21 – Wasatch Mts, UT Report: Mt. Superior Extreme Skiing? | 4 Runs on Superior in 5-Days
• 1/19/21 – Wasatch Mts, UT Report: Mt. Superior’s Pinball Alley | Denial, Side-Stepping, Snowplow, French Fries
• 1/17/21 – Wasatch Mts, UT Report: Mt. Superior South Face | 2nd Day in a Row
• 1/16/21 – Wasatch Mts, UT Report: Mt. Superior’s South Face in Powder Snow
• 1/14/21 – Teton Range, WY Report: Incredible Chute in Punchy, Weird Snow After the Big Rain
• 1/8/21 – Teton Range, WY Report: Big Chute Fun, Perfect Snow, Pillows, & Stunning Vistas
• 1/6/21 – Teton Range, WY Report: Pillows, Chutes, & Airs in Sublime Powder
• 1/5/21 – Teton Range, WY Report: High Avy Danger = Minimum Angle + Maximum Wind Lip
• 1/3/21 – Teton Range, WY Report: 12″ New Snow, Pillows, Chutes and Slabs
• New Years Day 2021 –Trip Report: Nez Perce, WY – “The Sliver Couloir”
• 12/29/20 – Teton Range, WY Report: Fun Chute, Big Smiles, & Great Tree Skiing Powder
• 12/28/20 –Teton Range, WY Report: 4,000-Vertical-Feet of Perfect Bluebird Powder
• 12/27/20 – Teton Range, WY Report: High Speed Fun in Immaculate Powder Snow
• Xmas 2020 – Teton Range, WY Report: 3,500′ of Christmas Day Powder Fun 🙂
• 12/23/20 – Teton Range, WY Report: 2 Steep Chutes + My Avalanche Decision-Making Processes
• 12/20/20 – Teton Range, WY Report: Warm, Wet, Windy, Slabby Skiing
• 12/18/20 – Teton Range, WY Report: Great Skiing on Touchy Snow
• 12/12/20 – Beaver Mountain, UT Report: Mini-Powder Day in Paradise
• 12/11/20 – Tetons Range, WY Report: Ugly Skiing in a Gorgeous Chute in Tricky Snow
• 12/10/20 – Teton Range, WY Report: Steep Skiing in a Tight Chute in Tough Snow
• 12/9/20 – Teton Range, WY Report: Schoodeling in Good Powder Up High
• 12/8/20 – Teton Mts, WY Backcountry Report: South-Faces Aren’t Exactly Corn…
• 12/2/20 – Wasatch Mts, UT Backcountry Report: Suicide Chute on Mt. Superior in Low Tide
• 11/28/20 – Teton, WY Backcountry Report: Good Turns + 3cm Surface Hoar…
• 11/25/20 – Teton, WY Backcountry Report: 6″ of New Snow | Not Bad for November…
• 11/13/20 – Alta, UT Report: Friday The 13th Wind-Buff & I Only Hit 6 Rocks
• 11/12/20 – Alta, UT Report: Deep Dry Powder in Main Chute & I Only Hit 12 Rocks

Avalanche Forecast:

Weather Forecast: