A Quick Right Gulley Poke 1/9/2026

Guest Blog: Ryan Swope

We were pleasantly surprised to see a moderate avalanche forecast at ravine level after the considerable yesterday, with the biggest avy problems in eastern aspects. With this in mind we started up the TRT with hopes of skiing something in the bowl. While at Hojos we watched a skier send duchess but noted some transport on Hillmans.

Continuing up into the bowl we saw some skiers about halfway up Lobster Claw, so we opted to boot up Right and see how the snow looked higher up. We stopped just under the rocks to lookers right to do a hand shear test and found it rock-solid, but a second hand shear test a bit higher up revealed a 1-2in windslab that released very easily.

The slab was not easy to see which did not give us confidence. We also noted that winds had picked up and transport was now happening everywhere in the bowl, including above us on Right. Some more hand shears over the next few dozen feet showed small but unstable slabs which was enough to convince our group to transition and ski down from there. The snow down Right and under Sluice was variable and did not make for a very fun line. We rode the TRT down to Hojos and were pleasantly surprised to find good snow on most of the Sherb, although there are still icy patches. Overall, a good day for testing avalanche skills and a pleasant run down the Sherb!