Owl's Head slide in winter

[kamoore63]

Hi folks. I was thinking of doing Owl's Head this weekend. I've done it twice in the summer and will probably take one of the bushwhacks (I've done the bushwhack from Franconia Falls but will probably try the Black Pond bushwhack for a change of pace).

The angle of the slide strikes me as perfect for avalanches. The fact that it faces west makes me think that it won't load like Tuck's but the snow that does land has to go someplace! And it looks from the latest avalanche bulletin like the danger is increasing today and tomorrow.

My thought is to head in, check it out from the bottom and do a test pit if it is snow-covered and then head on up, possibly bushwhacking to the left of the slide if it seems sketchy. Does anyone have any thoughts on doing this in the winter?

Thanks,
K

 

[el-bagr]

You're right that the west-side Owl's Head slide is within the slope range of avalanche potential. As such, if you know what you're doing, it's a good idea to assess the snowpack and current risk -- but I bet less than 1 in 20 parties even considers avalanche risk there. It's one of the many places where I thought nothing of it when I climbed and skied it, but now would think twice and evaluate conditions.

I was able to produce loose-snow sluffing, but no slabs -- it's sufficiently sheltered from winds that crossloading and slab formation are less likely than in more open terrain.

 

[kamoore63]

Thanks!

K

 

[David Metsky]

Many folks report that they bushwacked up the side of the slide, so that seems like a good option in winter.

-dave-

 

[spencer]

In my more foolhardy days, I solo climbed it in early March as part of a 4-day Pemi trip. I collapsed my poles and used them like two ice tools, stabbing them in one after the other, stepping up with my crampons. I thought about avalanches, but took a cursory glance and figured it was fine. I too would think about it more carefully and do some more appropriate assessment the next time around.

spencer

 

[NH_Mtn_Hiker]

I seriously doubt there is a significant danger of avalanches on the Owls Head slide. Besides the right snow/ice conditions and steepness there is another prerequisite for a serious avalanche...breadth.

Let me use an example, (or lack of an example): When was the last time you heard of people being caught in a serious avalanche while on a steep, but narrow trail with trees on either side like the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail or the
Kinsman Ridge Trail. See post 13 . (Sorry DougPaul. Hey, we had some great laughs creating all those avalanches. )

On a narrow trail the trees along the sides create friction and break up the avalanche as fast as it starts so it unable to get any momentum going. Granted the Owls Head slide is wider than the trails mentioned, but it's still pretty narrow compared to Huntington Ravine or Tuck's. Arrow slide and North Tripyramid slides are probably a little different story. They have some width to them. Owl's Head slide is generally no more than 20-50 feet wide along most of its length.

Another thing: Owl's Head slide has lots of trees on it, right? How many of those trees would be there if there had been any significant avalanches in recent years?

In winter most people go up the left side of the slide near the edge of the slide or up to 20 feet into the trees. You can use the trees to help pull yourself up though the snow if it's deep. Be careful you don't pull a tree over on top of yourself....you could be injured.

I'm not saying a serious avalanche can't happen on the Owls Head slide, just that extreme unlikelyness of it makes it not worth worrying about. If you want something to be concerned about, worry about the drunk-drivers and other fools on the roads to and from the trailheads.

Ohh!.......and don't worry about the bears either.

J.M.$.02.W.

 

[David Metsky]

Keep in mind that being buried by an avalanche isn't the only way to get hurt. All one has to do is knock you off your feet and slam you into a rock or tree.

But I don't know enough about avalanches to comment on Owl's Head slide in particular.

-dave-

 

[cushetunk]

How wide was that deadly avalanche in the Adirondacks a few years ago?

How wide are the GOS gullies that regularly avalanche?

No doubt width is a factor among others when considering terrain, but I wouldn't feel comfortable knowing an otherwise legit slide path was "only" 20 to 50 feet wide.

For driving and avalanches alike, I look both ways before turning onto a potentially dangerous road.

 

[DougPaul]

When was the last time you heard of people being caught in a serious avalanche while on a steep, but narrow trail with trees on either side like the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail or the
Kinsman Ridge Trail. See post 13 . (Sorry DougPaul. Hey, we had some great laughs creating all those avalanches. )

Rule of thumb: if there is enough space between the trees to ski, there is enough space for an avalanche.

Trees alongside a trail or narrow slide may help to hold the snow, but they don't offer absolute security.

People have died in avalanches on such terrain. (For instance, there was a death from an avalanche on Lions Head winter trail a number of years ago. Two were caught, one killed. They were on a SAR mission.)

And the fact that it didn't avalanche this time doesn't mean it won't avalanche the next time (or under the next person).

Most avalanches occur on terrain between 30 and 45 degrees, but they can occur on slopes as low as 15 degrees.

Suggested reading:
"Avalanche Safety for Skiers & Climbers", by Tony Daffern
"The Avalanche Handbook", by David McClung & Peter Schaerer
There is also a short section in "Freedom of the Hills".

Doug

 

[dms]

Only commenting on my own two experiences in winter on the OH slide. I did not find it all that difficult or threatening. Both times I found more ice than snow, and a lot of bare rock. I was able to easily avoid the steepest icy spots. Just take your time and carefully scope out your route. Worse case, just detour into the woods.

 

[SherpaKroto]

I seriously doubt there is a significant danger of avalanches on the Owls Head slide.

Yikes! Not sure how to respond to this one. After a recent snowfall, since the new snow will likely be over ice I would imagine it would not take much to send it all downhill. Even if you were just knocked over, the ride down would be one that hopefuly you would remember... if you survived it.

Steep open slopes and avalanche risk go hand in hand in my mind. ALWAYS better safe than sorry.

 

[skiguy]

Hi folks. I was thinking of doing Owl's Head this weekend. I've done it twice in the summer and will probably take one of the bushwhacks (I've done the bushwhack from Franconia Falls but will probably try the Black Pond bushwhack for a change of pace).

The angle of the slide strikes me as perfect for avalanches. The fact that it faces west makes me think that it won't load like Tuck's but the snow that does land has to go someplace! And it looks from the latest avalanche bulletin like the danger is increasing today and tomorrow.

My thought is to head in, check it out from the bottom and do a test pit if it is snow-covered and then head on up, possibly bushwhacking to the left of the slide if it seems sketchy. Does anyone have any thoughts on doing this in the winter?

Thanks,
K

kamoore63 I think you are right on target with your attitude towards this one. Keep an Eye on the Snowpack evolvement leading up to your trip to this area as this is critical to understanding the Avalanche hazard at a given time. Prudency prevails in situations like this...always remember that Avalanches are unpreditable.

 

[skiguy]

Yikes! Not sure how to respond to this one. After a recent snowfall, since the new snow will likely be over ice I would imagine it would not take much to send it all downhill. Even if you were just knocked over, the ride down would be one that hopefuly you would remember... if you survived it.

Steep open slopes and avalanche risk go hand in hand in my mind. ALWAYS better safe than sorry.

Agreed and well Said!

 

[kamoore63]

Yikes is right!

SherpaKroto hit it right on! I headed up the slide this morning and ended up turning back after a short fall. I was with a friend and conditions were reasonable: several inches of powdery over a fairly thin crust. We headed up through the woods parallel to the slide following someone else's snowshoe tracks. The going was fairly easy, although we occasionally wished we'd worn snowshoes rather than crampons. But it was generally fine.

After 500 or so feet of this (so around 3000'), the snowshoe track turned toward the slide, which appeared quite snow-covered. My hiking partner waited in the edge of the woods while I walked a short ways out. I didn't dig an official avalanche pit but took several swings with my ice axe. It seemed very stable: the same fluffy powder on top of a thin crust. So we started heading up.

It felt a little sketchy as we'd occasionally find ourselves on ice, which even with the ice axe wouldn't be noticable until we were on it. We'd also occasional hit rocks since there really wasn't much snow and that had the tendency to knock us backward a little - not a good direction to go in that position! On the positive side, we stayed close to the edge of the slide, following the tracks, which generally avoided too high a degree of exposure. However, in climbing up a steeper section, I found myself sliding - while I foolishly was switching hands with my ice axe so didn't have the leash on. I went about ten feet and caught a crampon tip, damaging a muscle in my left calf. I could have kept going (in fact we went up another 200 feet) but decided to turn back. It was just a bit too sketchy under the conditions and the mountain's not going anywhere.

Keith

 

[NH_Mtn_Hiker]

SherpaKroto hit it right on! I headed up the slide this morning and ended up turning back after a short fall. I was with a friend and conditions were reasonable: several inches of powdery over a fairly thin crust. We headed up through the woods parallel to the slide following someone else's snowshoe tracks. The going was fairly easy, although we occasionally wished we'd worn snowshoes rather than crampons. But it was generally fine.

After 500 or so feet of this (so around 3000'), the snowshoe track turned toward the slide, which appeared quite snow-covered. My hiking partner waited in the edge of the woods while I walked a short ways out. I didn't dig an official avalanche pit but took several swings with my ice axe. It seemed very stable: the same fluffy powder on top of a thin crust. So we started heading up.

It felt a little sketchy as we'd occasionally find ourselves on ice, which even with the ice axe wouldn't be noticable until we were on it. We'd also occasional hit rocks since there really wasn't much snow and that had the tendency to knock us backward a little - not a good direction to go in that position! On the positive side, we stayed close to the edge of the slide, following the tracks, which generally avoided too high a degree of exposure. However, in climbing up a steeper section, I found myself sliding - while I foolishly was switching hands with my ice axe so didn't have the leash on. I went about ten feet and caught a crampon tip, damaging a muscle in my left calf. I could have kept going (in fact we went up another 200 feet) but decided to turn back. It was just a bit too sketchy under the conditions and the mountain's not going anywhere.

Keith

Those snowshoes tracks you followed out onto the slide were mine. I was up there Saturday night. Yes the slide was slick, but it isn't open enough, nor is there enough snow for an avalanche. Nor did I see the mangled trees that you usually see at the bottom of a slope that avalanches.

I was up there this past March after a big snow storm and the conditions weren't much different, exposed rock, lots of ice, and little snow on the slide except in the more sheltered areas.....No avalanches that day either.

My point in my previous post wasn't that the slide isn't dangerous...it can be, just that avalanches are MUCH less likely there than at say, Gulf of Slides, Huntington, or Tuck's.

By the way, when I hiked back to Lincoln-Woods last night, I went by way of the Lincoln Brook and Franconia Brook crossings. Negotiating the crevasses and trying to follow an unblazed unbroken trail out to the Franconia Brook Trail was was more challenging than the Owls Head slide ever dreamed of being....It might have been easier if I'd wanted to do it by headlamp.


Edited to include photo.

 

[NH_Mtn_Hiker]

Kamoore63:

kamoore63 has chosen not to receive private messages or may not be allowed to receive private messages. Therefore you may not send your message to him/her.

Hummm...I can't respond to your PM by email either.

 

[kamoore63]

I fixed that. I didn't even know about the private message thing until you sent that one to me!