I'm glad for the above comment and I probably should have said more about the cornices in the original note.
We were hesitant to go to the top and opted to go for it through a gap in the cornices. Since this is a bowl, though, the slopes converge and the cornices that are off the the side a bit could still come down on your line if you're not careful.
I would under a lot of circumstances consider hucking the cornice to drop in, but in fact the cornices were cracked about 20 feet back and we did not dare to get within 30 feet of the edge except in the spots where the cornices had already collapsed entirely. There were a couple of big chunks that looked ready to go and you and can see one in the thumbnail photo that accompanies the article.
One final note that neither of us mentioned. There are some watercourses in Ellery Bowl and as the season progresses, skiers should also watch for collapsing snow bridges.
Yeah, that all makes it sound like some sort of dangerous, extreme outing, which it isn't, but it is a steep slope with cornice and rockfall danger and some snowbridges, so you should know what you're doing and be cautious enough to make it back another day!
I'm glad for the above
I'm glad for the above comment and I probably should have said more about the cornices in the original note.
We were hesitant to go to the top and opted to go for it through a gap in the cornices. Since this is a bowl, though, the slopes converge and the cornices that are off the the side a bit could still come down on your line if you're not careful.
I would under a lot of circumstances consider hucking the cornice to drop in, but in fact the cornices were cracked about 20 feet back and we did not dare to get within 30 feet of the edge except in the spots where the cornices had already collapsed entirely. There were a couple of big chunks that looked ready to go and you and can see one in the thumbnail photo that accompanies the article.
One final note that neither of us mentioned. There are some watercourses in Ellery Bowl and as the season progresses, skiers should also watch for collapsing snow bridges.
Yeah, that all makes it sound like some sort of dangerous, extreme outing, which it isn't, but it is a steep slope with cornice and rockfall danger and some snowbridges, so you should know what you're doing and be cautious enough to make it back another day!