{"id":2166725,"date":"2026-09-27T23:05:47","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T20:05:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2166725"},"modified":"2026-09-27T23:05:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T20:05:47","slug":"patagonia-report-moody-5-star-dust-on-crust-a-full-depth-avalanche","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2166725","title":{"rendered":"Patagonia Report: Moody 5-Star Dust-on-Crust & a Full-Depth Avalanche"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Report from September 25, 2026<\/em><\/p>\n

We sat for 5 days, then got one OK, wet powder day.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Then we sat for 3 more days and watched the rain completely destroy our zone.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n \ud83d\udd25<\/span>
\n Trending on SnowBrains<\/span>\n <\/div>\n
    \n
  1. \n <\/p>\n
    \n \"How\"How\n <\/div>\n
    \n 1<\/span><\/p>\n
    \n How Many Runs Do Our Readers’ Get in a Typical Day of Skiing \u2192<\/span><\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

    <\/a>\n <\/li>\n

  2. \n <\/p>\n
    \n \"Full-Depth\"Full-Depth\n <\/div>\n
    \n 2<\/span><\/p>\n
    \n Full-Depth Avalanche & 5-Star Dust-on-Crust in Patagonia \u2192<\/span><\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

    <\/a>\n <\/li>\n

  3. \n <\/p>\n
    \n \"Aspen\"Aspen\n <\/div>\n
    \n 3<\/span><\/p>\n
    \n Aspen Snowmass Snowfarming Pilot with Snow Secure Successful \u2192<\/span><\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

    <\/a>\n <\/li>\n

  4. \n <\/p>\n
    \n \"First\"First\n <\/div>\n
    \n 4<\/span><\/p>\n
    \n First Snowfall Forecast: When Mountains See Snow First \u2192<\/span><\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

    <\/a>\n <\/li>\n

  5. \n <\/p>\n
    \n \"7\"7\n <\/div>\n
    \n 5<\/span><\/p>\n
    \n 7 Downsides to Being a Ski Instructor \u2192<\/span><\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

    <\/a>\n <\/li>\n<\/ol><\/div>\n

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    Some of the bigger avalanches I\u2019ve seen in Patagonia<\/a>\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

    <\/span><\/p>\n

    The rain saturated the snow to the tops of the peaks and the snowpack decided to peel off like a banana skin.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    I\u2019m talking big, D3 avalanches that ripped down to the ground.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Well, we didn\u2019t know they\u2019d ripped to the ground.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Yet\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The large avalanche. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    \n<\/p>\n
    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    The forecast, when it finally went blue, was iffy, so we slept in and slow-rolled out the door.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    We left the house about 10:30 am and did our classic tour of the zone, inspecting lines, possibilities, and how to dodge these huge avalanches.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    I believed the avy danger was over at this point, as it had been a couple of days since the rain saturation and avalanche cycle.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    It snowed about 3\u2033 at road level, so we guessed it would be like our last wet powder day a few days earlier, with nothing over 5\u2033 in depth.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Instead of avoiding the avalanches, we ran directly towards one.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The biggest one.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Skip and the crown. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    \n<\/p>\n
    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    Debris was everywhere as we booted up into the zone.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Being stubborn, I tried to skin up a bit of it and fell twice.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The second fall was on rocks covered in a few inches of snow that really pissed off an old injury (when The Foot blind-side tackled me in the midst of first legal day drinking just after turning 21 and chipped the tips of both the bones on my elbows\u2026)<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Our tracks. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    With a pissed-off elbow and a memorable lesson, I put my crampons on and followed Skip upwards.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    And I followed Skip all day.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    He led the charge with the booter and the skinner all day long, saving me a ton of energy in the process.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    For our first run, we chose a zone we\u2019d hit with Tyler and Allie<\/a> in the very beginning of our trip.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The big avy. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    \n<\/p>\n
    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    The snow was about 4\u2033 deep, on the wetter side, and it was all sitting on a stout crust.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The clouds finally started to break up as we luncheoned on top.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    I dropped first into a sea of speckled light and cloud.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The effect was mesmerizing\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Happy track. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Like skiing in a lava lamp.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The snow was good enough and slow enough to ski fast.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    I made a few turns lining up a miniature chute, then just pointed it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The chute bucked me a bit on the exit. I waved to Mom, got it together, knew I needed to dump speed and that this bone yard was not the place to do it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Big views. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    I pointed it, stayed light, searching for deeper-looking snow I could really lay a turn into.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    I found it, grimaced, cranked the turn, and hit nothing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    From there it was off to the races.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Big, open, mellow terrain with no reason to turn anywhere.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Light track heavy avalanche. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    I drifted huge turns down onto one of the big fingers down low and enjoyed the view.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1,950 vertical feet top to bottom.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Skip came next after a big wait for light and got his kicks tickling the finger just skier\u2019s left of mine.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    We were full of smiles and hugs at the bottom.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Frozen waterfall. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    We marched across the big avalanche debris, across the bed surface and up to the Mini AK<\/a> zone we know and love.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The avalanche surprised us upon closer inspection.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    We\u2019d assumed it was an avalanche of just the new snow that fell a few days before (about 4\u2033 deep), but the crown was 3 feet deep down to the ground.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    It was a full-depth avalanche, about 200 yards wide.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Skip skiinning up near the top. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    A biggie\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

    I just wanted to get home via the least energetically taxing route.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Once on the ridge, Skip talked me into continuing up to the top.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Up top, we found a sweet line for him to ski and he nailed it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Skip skirting the debris. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    \u201c5-star dust-on-crust!\u201d crackled through my radio.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    I laughed and set my sights on the Mini AK zone.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    I wanted to ski the line Skip had skied so many weeks ago.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    I skied it bad; the snow was bad, rock protruded everywhere, and it was damn fun.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Summit #1. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    The penalty was high, however.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    I had to pick and walk my way down rock-hard avalanche debris and true rock with 3\u2033 of snow on it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    It took a while and I was rewarded with some schmooey hot powder turns on the apron.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    We were shocked the day had taken the twist that it had.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Avy debris. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    From \u201cthe zone is destroyed,\u201d to \u201cthis is pretty fun,\u201d to skiing the best terrain around.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    We bounced happily downhill knowing that despite our wood-burning stoves being cold, the sun would have warmed our little container home to about 68\u00baF.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    This was our last ski day together.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The abysmal forecast triggered me to pull the rip cord and fly home a week early.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The 5-day forecast was all rain and cloud\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Skip drilling in the booter. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Bailing now would give me an extra week with my wife before Antarctica (yes, I\u2019m flying right back to Patagonia in 3 weeks), avoid sitting around in the rain for 5 days, and get me out of the 9-hour drive to a 9-hour ferry ride to a 3-hour drive to get to my original flight.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Skip, you\u2019re on your own, buddy!<\/strong><\/p>\n

    What a trip.<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    • 18 ski days<\/li>\n
    • 12 down days<\/li>\n
    • 52,439 vertical feet climbed<\/li>\n
    • 72.96 miles traveled<\/li>\n
    • Average Day: 2,913 ft \u00b7 4.05 mi<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Gracias, Chile!<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Photos<\/span><\/h2>\n
      Multiple avalanche debris. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
      Skip climbing out. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
      Skip skirting the debris. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
      The huge avalanche. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
      Light track heavy avalanche. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
      Miles in moodiness. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
      Miles in Mini Alaska. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
      Skip crossing the avalanche debris. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
      Skip in the middle of it. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
      Summit #2. Image: SnowBrains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

      \n\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Report from September 25, 2026 We sat for 5 days, then got one OK, wet powder day. Then we sat for 3 more days and watched the rain completely destroy our zone. \ud83d\udd25 Trending on SnowBrains 1 How Many Runs Do Our Readers’ Get in a Typical Day of Skiing \u2192 2 Full-Depth Avalanche & […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,267],"class_list":["post-2166725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-snowbrains-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2166725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2166725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2166725\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2166725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2166725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2166725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}