What does the scale above mean to you as a skier or snowboarder in the Gulmarg backcountry? Remember, this advisory is for the Gulmarg backcountry, which means the terrain that is outside of Gulmarg Ski Area. The red areas in the photo below are the Gulmarg backcountry, and the green area is Gulmarg Ski Area. This advisory does not apply to the green zone ski area. Read more here.
For ski area updates during the day please join Gulmarg Avalanche Advisory page on Facebook: http://bit.ly/2jowwOM.
Snowpack Discussion
21 March 2017 – Cloudy skies today with snow/rain showers forecasted to start around mid afternoon. We may see some pulses of snow/rain as early as 11 am. The freezing level is forecasted to be near the top of the chair lift. Avalanche danger at all elevations is Low (1) today, natural and human triggered avalanches unlikely. Watch out for unstable Wet Loose snow during the warmest hours of the day on East, Southeast, South, and Southwest aspects from 12pm-4pm today. Ski and snowboard with a partner, there have been several reported cases of near snow suffocation accidents in the past week where people were trapped upside down in holes in the snow. Read more about this below.
http://www.deepsnowsafety.org/index.php/. We now have enough snow in the conifer forests for skiers and riders to get trapped in tree wells and stream holes. Read more about this phenomenon in the link above. It causes several fatalities each year in other ski regions of the globe.
Weather Forecast (link:http://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Gulmarg/6day/mid)
Ski Area Timings (21 March 2017)
Phase 1 – 9:30am – 4:30pm (last cabin 4:15pm)
Phase 2 – 10:00am – 4:00pm (last cabin 3:45pm)
Chair Lift – 10:00am – 4:00pm (last cabin 3:45pm)
*Going touring? Sunset is at 6:42pm today. We may need to close the second phase early today when the forecasted weather system arrives.
Beacon Training
Today there are (3) beacons buried on Merry Shoulder. The beacon training area here in Gulmarg is located on Merry Shoulder. The orange dot (see photo below) indicates where a red flag is next to a large birch tree. This is the “point last seen”. Start your search here. We have one, two, and three beacons buried here daily. Please do not dig up the beacons, simply cycle through your Primary (signal) search, Secondary (flux line) search, Pinpoint search, and then Probing. A probe strike indicates the end of your search. If you’re interested in learning more, please come by Gulmarg Ski Patrol base at the bottom of the chair lift.
Next avalanche talk is Tuesday, 21 March 2017 at 7:30pm at Pine Palace Resort. Pine Palace Resort is located in Gulmarg meadow. Talks will continue every Tuesday night at 7:30 pm through 28 March, 2017.