Quick report
- Cracking
- specific
- Collapsing
- specific
Heavy winds gusting to 50mph and blowing snow had already filled in the skin track between the first and second lap in many places. Near the top of the corkscrew at about 8,880' while re-breaking track the snowpack collapsed above the skin track and a crack appeared, isolating a 20'x10' patch of snow without sliding. We traversed this slope one at a time, planning to regroup out of the wind in the trees. Halfway across this slope there was another collapse and a crack travelled 30' upslope to a sapling and then out of sight. I was unable to identify a weak layer or how deep in the snowpack the collapse occurred. I forgot to measure the slope angle in this area but estimate it was between 25 and 30 degrees. While I was looking at the crack my partners observed a natural avalanche several hundred feet to the NW though the trees.
Avalanche
- Size
- D2
- Aspect
- NE
- Trigger
- N
- Elevation
- 9050 ft
Avalanche ran from near the top of the corkscrew several hundred feet through dense forest. Given conditions and other observations it's likely this was a wind slab that failed near the ridgeline.