Weekly Recap Friday 1/3/20 - Thursday 1/9/20 This week on As the World Terns: By FAC Intern Rob Millspaugh. Video by Zach Guy.
We all do regretful things now and then. However, it’s the way we deal with these regrets that defines our character. Winter is clearly feeling some heartburn about the mess it made for us early this season. Crusts, facets, hoar at depth and surface.. Yeah, it’s safe to say Winter has not been kind to us. Yet seasons change and in the first full week of 2020 Winter seemed resolute to put weak layers in the past. It raked the mountains with strong winds throughout the weekend in hopes of producing a clean slate. These winds reworked the landscape, scoured windward fetches to the ground, and formed wind slabs. Ultimately, gusts exceeding 70 mph were not enough to erase the past and Winter opted instead to bury it. Snotel recorded up to 4 inches of SWE with increasing temperatures from Monday to Wednesday. Although the deeper the snow stacked up, the more apparent the weak layers became. Avalanche activity peaked on Tuesday with numerous reports of natural and skier triggered avalanches failing on a variety of weak layers. Wednesday featured a D2.5 in JFS Canyon that potentially stepped down to facets at the base of the snowpack. To make the most of this ski season we must understand that we cannot undo Winter’s early season regrets. Although snowier days are upon us, we must acknowledge that these weak layers are a part of the snowpack and adjust our terrain choices accordingly. Henry David Thoreau once said “To regret deeply is to live afresh.” Let’s all regret deeply before we ski some fresh.
