What a couple of morons: We were headed into Cold
Stream Canyon to ice climb, and thought the gods were with us when we
were able to convince some patrollers to shoulder our huge packs up
Mt. Lincoln while we skinned up Sugarbowl's slopes. While we headed
out west under the Lincoln/Anderson Ridge, we started to feel uneasy
about avy danger. Sure enough, before long we saw a ski track that
didn't make sense until we reevaluated it as a crown - one that
extended some 300 meters and encompassed an avalanche that dropped
over a cliffband and funnelled into a gulley - all bad signs,
especially considering that we then found ski tracks descending into
the crown. After much beacon and other searching, and a call to the
Forest service, we decided there was no more to do - off we went,
though atop the ridge, where it was safer.
Of course we had to descend again to the ice, which meant making a
bollard. We've made plenty before, but I guess not is snow this soft,
as the video illustrates.