“Walking into this zone on a windy Sunday morning we all knew things were going to get spicy, and yet we went for it instead of turning around.” –Jacob Wester
Glad Swedish skier Jacob Wester was able to stay on his feet and outrun this series of soft slab avalanches he triggered while riding a line in Sunnmøre, Norway. He details the mistakes he made in a recent Instagram post and hopes people can learn from his faulty decision making process.
“I know, I know – I shouldn’t be posting more avalanche content (think of the children!), but since my main demographic, by a large margin, consists of 35-45 year old men, I came to the conclusion that they are old enough to make better decisions in the mountains than I evidently am.”
Jacob Wester:
I know, I know – I shouldn’t be posting more avalanche content (think of the children!!!), but since my main demographic, by a large margin, consists of 35-45 year old men, I came to the conclusion that they are old enough to make better decisions in the mountains than I evidently am.Â
Walking into this zone on a windy Sunday morning we all knew things were going to get spicy, and yet we went for it instead of turning around. Why, I’m sure you’re asking? Because of two reasons, one being that the persistent weak layer in the avy forecast (which all of you should always read at any time before heading into the backcountry), didn’t seem very active on the steep enough aspects that we we’re interested in, and any major slides seemed unlikely. The other was that the little fresh snow we had gotten overnight really only posed a problem if we suddenly decided to ski very slow, as the thin top layer of very cold and light snow really didn’t want to hang on to anything steep, which we noticed while climbing. Of course the small soft slabs like the ones in the video could cause a skier to lose balance and get dragged along, but even if that we’re to happen (we all like to ski very fast), we were all above very little exposure and even if these mini avalanches do look quite dramatic they wouldn’t deposit enough snow to bury a person, rather just provide an embarrassing slide on one’s behind for a few hundred meters.
So there – that’s the disclaimer. It won’t suffice for some of you, but I hope the clip entertains someone.
It should go without saying that big lines where a fall or slide-out would hurt or kill, is a huge no-no in the Sunnmøre area at the moment. This fresh snow needs time and probably less cold temps to properly stabilize. In the meantime, go get faceshots in the sun, because it sure is the time for it!