Author: Jason Albert

ATES and Trip Planning—an Intro

ATES and Trip Planning—an Intro

Written by | Oct 16, 2023

Real-world use of an ATES, can come into play when exploring unfamiliar terrain.

A great and free resource, (although it must cost Avalanche Canada money to produce and host), is their trip planner. Load the planner, and scroll and zoom on the Whistler zone to view specific terrain overlaid with ATES descriptions. The map provided is suitable for a first-step analysis: it is 2D, and once zoomed in sufficiently, populates with topo lines and even a track, for example, of the Spearhead Traverse. I can begin to analyze what type of avalanche exposure I can expect on the traverse.

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The Swiss Way: Expanding the Avalanche Danger Scale

The Swiss Way: Expanding the Avalanche Danger Scale

Written by | Oct 12, 2023

Bucking the trend towards simpler is better, the Swiss expand their avalanche danger scale by adding sub-levels.

After five years of internal use and a season of limited public use in 2022-2023, the Swiss Avalanche Warning Service will add sublevels to their avalanche forecast this season. Yes, they are adding complexity, which seems to be bucking the trend. In Europe generally, including Switzerland, forecasters use five discrete levels to define the avalanche danger level.

This season, instead of a straight 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, the danger levels will include 1, 2-, 2=, 2+, 3-, 3=, 3+, and 4-.

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ISSW Bend: Kick it off with ATES v2.0

ISSW Bend: Kick it off with ATES v2.0

Written by | Oct 11, 2023

A new ATES system, codified as ATES v.2, rates terrain between 0-4, with 0=non-avalanche, 1=simple, 2=challenging, 3=complex, and 4=extreme, respectively.

The introduction of “0”, described as “No known exposure to avalanches. Very low-angle or densely forested slopes located well away from avalanche paths, or designated trails/routes with no exposure to avalanches,” allows for a broader interpretation of the terrain.

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Who Owns the Cirque? On Localism in the Backcountry

Who Owns the Cirque? On Localism in the Backcountry

Written by | Oct 9, 2023

Some thoughts on localism and who owns the clique — managing through kindness our scarcity of powder.

Who, if anyone, gets to police local spots? Who gets to “protect” our scarce resource, powder, for select locals? Is it the best local free skier who has lived here for less than a decade? Is it sponsored athletes at all? Is the true local who has been yo-yoing for 20 years and feels entitled to park their sled beyond the wilderness boundary the enforcer? Should localism even be a concern?

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Bruchez, Socié, and Aurélien Make 2nd Descent of the Whillans Ramp on Aguja Poincenot

Bruchez, Socié, and Aurélien Make 2nd Descent of the Whillans Ramp on Aguja Poincenot

Written by | Oct 5, 2023

One aspect of the route, the Whillans Ramp, is a long, exposed, and steep thread of snow bisecting the mountain’s eastern wall. Aside from the ramp and hanging snowfield below, this is a big wall theater visited more by alpinists than ski-mountaineers. 

The line was first skied in 2012 by legendary skier Andreas Fransson. (You can read about Fransson’s thoughts on the line here. It is an excellent read.) He considered the one of his most, if not the most, technical descent he had skied. This is of note considering his legacy of steep skiing, including Denali’s South Face. 

Bruchez, Jules Socié, and Aurélien Lardy completed the second descent of the ramp on the 21st, while the following day, they opened new adjacent ski terrain, calling it the “Mini-Whillans. 

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