Heavy, fresh snowfall followed by high temperatures have brought a high avalanche risk to the Sierra Nevada. There are large areas of wet snow, especially below 2600m. Above that there is danger from cornice collapse, especially on the ridges of Tajos de la Virgen and the abseil descent from Los Posiciones into the Coral del Veleta.
I found the following article at the Avalanche Center (to which Spanish Highs Mountain Guides are members). It does pose the question “Is this the shape of things to come”? But then, how is it to be policed? Is this taking away our right to roam free at our own risk in the mountains? Like [...]
Spanish sources yesterday have reported a large avalanche that has come down in the vicinity of Cueva Secreta in the Sierra Nevada north of Puntal de la Caldera and Juegos de Bolos. This shows how dangerous a state the mountains are in at present. This is the first report, to our knowledge, of avalanches here. [...]
With the conditions in the Sierra Nevada tricky at the moment with much avalanche danger, it seems an appropriate time to detail the equipment required to make travelling in avalanche terrain safer. Ideally, avoiding avalanches in the first place is much easier than trying to survive one. Avalanche safety begins even before you begin your [...]
As reported 2 days ago the conditions in the mountains are not good. With improving weather conditions for this coming weekend, great care should be taken. The sheets of ice that formed 2 weeks ago have been covered by at least a metre of new snow that has fallen in the past few days. Some [...]
After some heavy snowfalls in the last few days and more to come the avalanche risk is very high. New unconsolidated powder snow overlays old hard packed snow and ice giving instability. The high winds will have dumped considerable amounts on lee slopes which will be heavily loaded. The photo below was taken yesterday from [...]
Scientists have made new insights into cracks under the surface of snow that could help to predict when slab avalanches might occur. These avalanches are often triggered by skiers and account for many skiing accidents. It was previously thought slab avalanches were caused by shear cracks, in which one layer of snow slides off another. [...]
These photos were taken mid-June after a poor (relative) winter’s snowfall! The temperatures in Granada were above 30 deg C at the time. There are three options when travelling between the Cariguela and Elorietta huts in Spain’s Sierra Nevada mountains: (1) The ridge of Tajos de la Virgen. Mild scrambling (grade 1) in summer and [...]
About 6cm new snow fell over the weekend. High winds from the NW on Sunday am blew much of this into the leeward slopes, which have now up to 2ft of powder. All of this is uncolsolidated and overlays a hard icy base layer. Avalanche dangers exist. Technorati Tags: avalanche, Sierra Nevada
A 46 year old ski mountaineer was killed yesterday in the Sierra Nevada when he was caught in an avalanche and buried under 2m of snow. The accident happened on the western slopes near the Elorietta Hut. The snow conditions off piste in the Sierra Nevada are dangerous at present. Heavy snowfall last weekend overlays [...]
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