A day in the life of a powder freak Well a New Year has turned over and the snows are coming down harder than ever making powder riding on the hill marvelous.

This Backcountry Board Room addition is a fictional 'day in the life of a Powder Freak.' It is based on many trips into the winter mountains and events that happen to real people just like you and me. It's all about having fun out there and returning to talk about it. Just remember if you have to be on the end of a shovel it's best to be over the handle than under the blade.

I wake to the rumble of the snow plow out front and in a haze move to the window to pull back the curtains. As I stare in blissful wonder at the pink glow  of dawn that warms the powder laden North Alps, I myself start to get a warm glow inside and know that this 25cm over night, blue bird morning is just going to get better and better.

The last week has seen little wind with flurries of 5-15cms and temperatures overnight dropping to -12 degrees C and highs during the day have been around -3 degrees C up on the mountain. All of these things reassure me that conditions are great and avalanche danger is probably moderate.  The weather forecast for the day looks as though the high pressure system that has brought these blue skies is going to stay though the day and into the night. Sounds oh so good.

I give the buds a call and the consensus is a tour up into those beautiful North Alps that were glowing  just minutes earlier. We decide to meet at the bottom of the Gondola at 8:30 ready to go. YES! That rush of the first tour of the season and the processes that need to be carried out hits me and I start to run around getting every thing together for a day out in the mountains with the gang.

I start filling my pack with gear and essentials for the day; first aid kit, light bivuay sack, spare down vest, extra socks, torque & gloves to keep extremities warm in the case my first set get wet, 20m of climbing rope for rescue, shovel, probe... where's my beacon gone? Oh here it is, I wonder how the batteries are? Well they've been in there all of last season and through the summer so I guess I should put knew ones in for this season and use these old ones as spares for my head lamp as well as a couple of new batteries too, if I don't use them somebody might. Now where are those maps and my compass, think I'll take my compact binochs to look at those beautiful peaks and avalanche activity as the weather and visibility couldn't be better. And last but not least my snow study kit to look at the snow pack and tool kit just in case something breaks.

After stuffing everything into my 40 liter pack the big question is what to ride? Should I take out the board, my touring skis or the tele gear. Choices, choices. All right, better put the skins in the bag. I'm going out on the skis in search of face shots and I think most of the others are on "planks" today as well.

Got my gogs, sunnies, torque, gloves, the right clothes for the day, skis, poles, boots and we're set. Got time to make tea for lunch and a quick breakfast before I have to get going. I'll make a stop by the "Konbini" to pick up some "Onigiri" for lunch and snacks on my way to the lifts.

OK, one last check, have I got everything? Oh, guess I should take some water too and that should be it. "All right I'll see you around 4:30 Honey or I'll give a call to tell you what's up. You have my map of where we're going, right?" Finally out the door with gear dangling from every limb like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

Doh! I forgot to warm up the car and there's 25cms to clear off it before I can go anywhere. Sorry girl, we're just going to have to drive you cold this morning.

AT THE LIFTS:
There's the gang waiting for me as usual. I apologize for being late, but they've just come to expect that from me. I'm introduced to Paul, new to town but apparently a really good boarder but not too experienced in the back country. First thing I notice is that the pack he is carrying is quite small and the set of snowshoes he has is hanging out the top quite precariously. I ask if he has a beacon and John says that he has lent him his old Pieps and that they did a bit of a practice in the parking lot just before I got there. I'm a little bit unsure of the whole situation but figure the four of us can look after Paul and give him some pointers along the way.
 
All five of us now jump in to the gondola and sit back for the ride. As we enjoy the views of the Alps spreading out across the skyline in front of us we talk about what conditions we might find and what avi danger there could be out there. We all pretty much agree that we are wise to stay to the north facing slope that we had planned on skiing as the south face will be warming quickly today with the weather the way it is today. We all agree that the lack of winds this last week has been a good thing for both good powder and a lack of wind slabs. Everyone seems fairly positive but Sean and I agree we had better dig a pit to the ground to check out the snow pack as it will be the first trip in to the mountains this season.
 
We pile out at the top and head over to the patrol hut to sign out for the "TOZAN TOROKUSHO", the back country log book. We give them or names, age, contact numbers, gear that we are carrying in the group, where we are going and expected time back. I ask them for today's weather info and whether there had been any slides during control work that morning. They tell me that there was no control work done this morning as things were stable today. Not that that is any consolation to us as control work on the hill is minimal at best.  The weather they say will stay clear for the day with winds increasing in the afternoon. We give thanks and depart under the watch of semi wary eyes.

Two more lifts before we get to the top and put on skins and shoes, and take off layers for the climb as it is already -1 degree C at 9:30 and will probably warm a little more by noon.  We arrive at the third cairn at 11:30 where we decide to have a break and a snack. By this time Paul is getting all anxious to get going down and urges us to get a move on and head down this awesome bowl to our left.

He starts to take off his shoes to get ready to go down the south face of the ridge that has been baking all morning in the sun and already I notice snow balling and small sluffs starting from around rock out crops. I ask him whether he feels that this is the best decision and he replies that we had better hurry as the powder is getting heavy.  John tells him that we are not going down there for that very reason, he says that there is a really good chance that that face will slide with the new 25cms getting warmed by the intense heat of the sun. Sean, John, Cindy and I agree we should stick to the original plan and dig a pit on a North facing small roll that we will use as our indicator slope for today's slope stability. Paul feels a little ganged up on but realizes that he is the least experienced out here and falls back in with the groups plan.
 
After digging for 15 minutes we finally have a great white wall of snow in front of us. The wall is 214 cm from ground to surface and it is still not even January yet. Wow, more snow than we thought! A bit of a nice surprise. I first check snow resistance and find that the snow pack firms up nicely with depth and that there are no real suspect soft snow layers down low. Next we check snow temperatures from the snow surface on down every 10cms, then every 20cms after that to the ground. The findings are that the temperature gradient is weak over the whole snow pack which has allowed for what we suspect is good bonding.

Now for the shovel tests. We each carve out a snow column and do compression and shear tests to find shears or weak layers in the snow.   All of us find that there is a layer about 15cms down that is a fairy weak shear but the snow is so light in this first 15cms that we feel that we can deal with any sluffs from this layer.  The new snow layer 25cms down seems to hold on fairly well and we get moderate shears from this interface. But the biggest concern is a layer that only Cindy and I find that sits on top of a thin crust 40cms down that shears with moderate pressure. Probably a layer from the last clear day a week ago when the winds were quite strong.

We finish up lunch and fill in the pit and discuss what we have found and what to expect if we do go down the North face. Once again, Paul is raring to go and can't understand why we are wasting time digging  when we could be riding.
We decide that with the conditions that it will probably be safe to travel down the raised central arm of the bowl away from steep con vexing slopes and one at a time on the slope stopping first on the East shoulder then down again from there. I opt for first tracks and an initial cut across the top of the slope and down the approximately 33degree concaved face to the East shoulder and wait for John. John whoops and hollers as he makes prime turns down the face and over to where I am. Cindy follows in making fast GS turns and then from above Paul jumps in and strait lines it for the left role that we have all avoided to this point and does a huge slash that looks cool but sends shivers down my spine. John yells at him to head right and just at that moment  the role fractures creating a large bang as it starts to break up and flow down hill. I scream at Cindy to strait line it for us on the shoulder which she was already doing. The slide started gaining speed immediately and caught Paul off guard and tossed him over on to his front and flipped him again before we lost sight of him in all the flying snow. The slide was about 15-20 meters across the top and just kept going till it finally slowed and stopped 80 or so meters down the bowl on a small bench.

The snow cloud settled and all was dead silent. We all looked on in shock and amazement as we realized that Paul couldn't be seen and must be in there some where. We looked at the remaining snow on the roll which was minimal and decided to start searching. We all switched to receive and lined up for a beacon search from the last point that we saw Paul. I went ahead faster while the other three to do a hasty search and visual of the area to see if I could spot anything.

"Here's one of his snowshoes", I screamed, "I've got a signal, he's down here".

Every one came down to me and started to get out probes and shovels as I and John continued the beacon search.

"Hey over there. That's something in the snow" yelled John as he ran to it and promptly yelled again, "It's his board."

Cindy and Sean ran over and started digging and I followed the signal to the site as well. With in 30cms we had his leg and followed up to his head and uncovered it to have Paul coughing and spitting snow.

"He's alive", cried Cindy in joy and relief.

We got him out and sitting up. He was OK and not too hurt but very shook up and needless to say very happy to see his new friends around him. We dusted him off and made sure he was OK for the rest of the trip down. He said he could get down fine, so packed gear away and got ready to go.

Sean suggested that we head down the shoulder the rest of the way and all were in agreement. We salvage what we could of the turns to be made and arrived at the bottom safely to get ready for the hike out to the road.

Back at the car there was a very somber mode and Paul was very reserved and grateful for his skilled companions. We decided it was time for a beer and an onsen after the days ordeal. Paul bought beers and all was forgiven but definitely would never be forgotten. Sean mentioned that there was an Avalanche Awareness Course next week end that he was enrolled in and Paul said that he was going to do it too.  

A story of fiction but it could be someone's scary reality very easily. Don't let it be your reality enroll in an avi awareness course before reality forces you to or reality won't allow you to.  It could mean your life.