Cody came down from Montana to visit and we headed out to Cameron Pass hoping to ski the Nokhu Couloirs. We were skinning by 8:30 and did the 3-mile approach at a relaxed pace. The approach is a bit long, but it felt easy until the last half-mile or so. Avalanche danger was suspect, so … Continue reading My First Colorado Couloir
Snow Science: A Snapshot of Snowpack
To better understand how snotels work and what a typical year looks like, we’ll look at historic snotel data at one site. Snotel site number 530, Hoodoo Basin, lies at 6,050 ft. on the Montana/Idaho border in the northern Bitterroot mountain range. I chose to demonstrate snowpack using this snotel because it has a particularly … Continue reading Snow Science: A Snapshot of Snowpack
Snow Science: The Basics
Fig. 1: 30-year average max. SWE at all lower 48 snotels. What questions do skiers ask when planning a ski trip? At the top of the list will always be the snow. We want to know how much snow there is, how much new snow there is, how reliable the snow is, how cold and … Continue reading Snow Science: The Basics
The Skientist 