Quick report
My partner and I were climbing up a couloir that is just above Source Lake bearing towards Chair Peak. We had planned to just get to the top of the couloir and ski back down to Source Lake and out the valley. While we were midway up the couloir, we heard a loud sound above us. Then, avalanche debris started tumbling down the couloir. We sheltered to the side as much as we could, and luckily, it wasn't too much debris. It seemed like something big had released from somewhere above us, in a location we couldn't see, and some of the debris had enough momentum to make it down the couloir we were climbing. Needless to say we quickly down-climbed, moved to a location out of the path of the couloir, then transitioned and got out of there. It's unclear how big the slide was or what its characteristics were as we never saw the release point itself. But the couloir and the area above it had been baked in sun all day and had just transitioned to shade, so it's possible it was a glide slab, cornice collapse, or wet slab.
Avalanche
- Size
- D2
- Aspect
- NE
- Trigger
- N
- Elevation
- 4700 ft
My partner and I were climbing up a couloir that is just above Source Lake bearing towards Chair Peak. We had planned to just get to the top of the couloir and ski back down to Source Lake and out the valley. While we were midway up the couloir, we heard a loud sound above us. Then, avalanche debris started tumbling down the couloir. We sheltered to the side as much as we could, and luckily, it wasn't too much debris. It seemed like something big had released from somewhere above us, in a location we couldn't see, and some of the debris had enough momentum to make it down the couloir we were climbing. Needless to say we quickly down-climbed, moved to a location out of the path of the couloir, then transitioned and got out of there. It's unclear how big the slide was or what its characteristics were as we never saw the release point itself. But the couloir and the area above it had been baked in sun all day and had just transitioned to shade, so it's possible it was a glide slab, cornice collapse, or wet slab.