20250601_Sin Nombre NE face / upper bench ~12,500’

Observation Date:

June 1, 2025

Submitted:

June 3, 2025

Zone or Region:

Taos Area

Activity:

Skiing/Snowboarding

Location:

Sin Nombre NE face / upper bench ~12,500’

Comments:

Two skier triggered slides on the upper NE bench of Sin Nombre. Slides occurred at ~1015. Intense solar radiation and had snowpack in warm, mushy state, after several turns , snowpack released at begins by of steep section before the narrow crux of what the beacon guidebook as listed as line 5. Snow released near tail of turn and I skied away without incident. First photo captures the small slide which did take away most of that chute. Horizontal traverse away from slide to safer descent area triggered another small slide which transported me downhill for less than 10’ . Slide continued below me but did not go past the ‘branch’ flat section where skiers typically transition a left chute into main northern snowfield section under sin nombre. See photos 2 and 3 for top and bottom of second slide respectively

Photo:

None reported

I ascended Sin Nombre solo via the primitive route on the west side of the valley, with a climb up to the saddle between lakefork and SN, and then a ridgeline traverse (climbing to roughly number 9 in the beacon guide). Late start to the day meant I didn’t start skiing till after 1000. In retrospect, I should have stopped at the top of the NW cirque and simply skied that run as it had less solar radiation for time of day. This would be run 7 in the beacon guide and is one of two runs left on sin Nombre that are still ‘in’ in any meaningful way . As my Goal was to connect the NE bench to the lower snowfields via the SN chutes I continued to false summit . Snow conditions meant that the only skiable lines were above terrain trap chutes. After first release I planned to descend off steep terrain by bootpack but second release occurred on horizontal traverse to rock field. Mix of ski and bootpack descent followed based on grade of snow. Linking the bench to lower snowfield is still technically possible on skis but travelers should be aware of wet slide potential and no exit avenue in those chutes.