Incident

Avalanche: Dromedary Peak

John LemnotisSalt Lake
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Quick report

Slope Angle
40°

Avalanche

Slab Width
46 m
Weak Layer
Density Change
Trigger Type
Skier
Vertical Fall
76 m
Avalanche Type
Hard Slab
Slab Thickness
46 cm
Trigger Detail
Unintentionally Triggered
Start Zone Aspect
Northeast
Avalanche Problem
Wind Slab
Start Zone Elevation
3292 m

Our party released a wind slab below the upper crux of the NE face of Dromedary on the descent today. The first skier released a hard slab on their 3rd or 4th turn on the slope. The skier was able to arrest on the bed surface after a short, albeit intimidating, ride. The slab did not have a lot of energy but propagated a fair distance to the skiers left. The crown was as deep as 18" but averaged more around 6-8". I would estimate the slide as R1-D1 in the terrain that we were in. No injuries were sustained just a group of ego's bruised.

We started the day with every intention of being turned around due to wind slabs up high. As the day progressed we were pleasantly surprised at the lack thereof. We ascended most of the terrain that we skied and didn't encounter anything problematic. More wind "skin" than anything else. The loaded feature was a small bowl where we let our guard down after negotiating the thin cliff band above. Should've, could've, would've moved those tracks to skiers right to a more protective feature but hind sight is 20-20. Take this as a cheap lesson where everyone is ok and the day ended just fine.

Incident

Number Caught
1
Number Carried
1