Anyway, it also seems that the bursts of snow and cold that come in the form of furious north wind for a couple of days are then really intensive. Last weekend, just for two days, one could imagine living in Siberia here in Helsinki. It snowed some 30-40cm (over one foot) and for a while it looked like in the good old times. In the 80s when I was a kid we used to have real winters from late November to early April, and usually periods of really cold weather around January and February – in last year the average temperature of February was something like +5C!

The short cold periods also allowed our little  ski resorts to open some of their slopes. But at the moment it doesn’t look too good, and the resorts will be probably forced to close their slopes again (bummer). However, I took an advantage of the situation and opened the season. Nothing more than few runs on a slightly tilted field with minimal snow (it has started to melt big time already) and few very unsure attempts on some “pressure boxes”. At the age of 35 it is pretty humbling to go try jibbing among masses of teenagers that know what they are doing and are almost all pretty damn good, or at least it looks so to my eye. Still, Season opener is a season opener and every day skiing is better than a day at the office.

Snowy conditions offered some interesting commuting to work too – suddenly all the usual bike lanes changed to perfect winter cyclocross tracks. I’d say riding in conditions like that all winter would make anyone a way better bike handler (especially without studded tires). Another reason to hope for some real winters to come back again in the future!

The wild rumor also said that newschool mega-stars Andreas Harlaut, Tom Wallish and Norwegian Even Sigstad were hitting some rails in Helsinki yesterday. I am not 100% sure about this statement, but the word was from a reliable source though. I guess the guys came a few days too late anyway…there are still piles of rotten and dirty snow everywhere but they’ve missed the beautiful winter scenery with virgin snow around.

I hope the guys got some good footage and enjoyed their time in Helsinki? Last winter Helsinki didn’t see many days of snow and even Redbull organized cool competition “Jibs and Clips” was moved to Jyväskylä (in Central Finland).  The competition was very well organized and offered world class urban jibs, and I wonder why it didn’t get any more international attention? See the clip below…the format was super (a team of Jibbers and a camera crew shooting footage together) and I guess our riders here are not that bad either? I hope we will see footage like this from my hometown in the next year’s flicks?

Well, waiting here for the real winter still to come. It was nice to enjoy snow for a few days and I hope this winter will see more snow than the last one – when we got about two ordinary storms in the  whole season, one in November and one in March. All January and February was pure rain, all the time. The positive side is that this winter just could not be any worse? (or then we really are the losers in the climate game already?).

The best way of finding out the avalanche risks is examining the snow profile using a snowpit. You can use a snow shovel, a snowboard and the tail of your ski. It should be approximately 30 inches (75 cm) wide and as deep as possible. Naturally it should be on the same slope you are planning to ski. Clear the sides in order to see the structure of the snow. Then start examining the snow.

Examining the snow profile step by step

First prod the snow every few centimeters with your bare finger. Try to get an idea of any hard and soft layers in the snow. By examining like this, you are looking for radical changes in the snow profile. If the area is safe for skiing, the snow profile should not have radical changes. Instead the profile should change gradually.

Next examine the snow crystals of the layers. Look for radical changes in their sizes or shapes. Look at the water content of each layer as well. If you discover wet layers and free running water, it is a clear mark of a danger, because free running water acts like a lubricant for the snow above. If you are able to reach the ground, check it as well. Rocks are good at keeping snow, but on grass or smooth rock snow can slide much easier due to less friction.

Finally by using your skis dig two channels (30-50 cm apart) in the back of the pit. Stamp down the snow between the channels. If the slab slides away, it is a clear mark that the same might happen if you ski on the area.

There are also other ways to examine the snow, but these ones mentioned above are the “good old” ways to examine the snow profile. If you know other ways to examine the snow or you have good experiences, please share your thoughts with us by leaving a comment.

Test-skiing the slope in order to analyze avalanche risks

Now as you know how to examine the snow profile, you can perform one more check before you ski the slope. The last check is called “test-ski”, which simply means that you ski a small area as a test. For test-skiing a slope you need help from your fellow skier who must be familiar with mountain equipment and anchoring. Both of you need glacier equipment, such as harnesses, rope and anchoring devices. If you are not familiar with these equipment and you are heading to backcountries, I strongly recommend you to spend some time with mountaineering and mountain equipment before entering the slopes. It is important to know how to anchor yourself of steep snow, rocks or ice, as well as how to help your buddy out of a crevasse or how to abseil down a rock.

When you test-ski a slope, your buddy needs to anchor him/herself on rock, snow or tree for example. Then you set bind a rope in your harness and your buddy makes sure you won’t be caught by the avalanche if the snow starts sliding. Next ski normally few dozens of meters until there is no more rope left. Then look at your tracks and the snow around you. Are there cracks? Has the snow started sliding? If there is nothing suspecting and your other checks have been ok, it looks like the slope is risky. In this phase you need to decide whether you will ski the slope or not.

For more about avalanches, see the homepage of Avalanche.Org. There is a lot of great information on avalanches.

In the last part of this article series we will discuss about skiing the slope and acting in case of emergency.

Image source.

Jim Cooper in Vail mountains is trying out all possible “summer-like” tricks to tease the snow god. Jim hopes the snow god will punish human beings by letting it snow lots of new fresh powder. Jim is devilish with that strategy. Well, looks like Jim is running out of time. He should do something wild now. Vail will open on Friday and there is still just a little bit of snow. What makes it even worse is that the weather forecast does not provide anything better..

People in Vail mountains are getting nervous. They are trying out some weird snow dances and even woodoo things… I am glad I am not wittnessing. Jim Cooper has a problem, a dificult one. There should be snow before Friday. I hope the snow god will punish and will let it snow big time. This sounds like at my my job as my boss usually says: “Marko, here’s a problem. Do whatever you can, just do it. In time and within budget, preferably faster and for free“. Jim, keep on dancing and performing those woodoo things. It will snow one day for sure.