Quick report
- Slope Angle
- 34°
Avalanche
- Slab Width
- 457 m
- Weak Layer
- Facets
- Trigger Type
- Natural
- Vertical Fall
- 183 m
- Avalanche Type
- Hard Slab
- Slab Thickness
- 107 cm
- Start Zone Aspect
- East
- Avalanche Problem
- Persistent Weak Layer
- Start Zone Elevation
- 3292 m
We found this massive avalanche today. Based on a few inches of snow on top of the debris, it only happened a few days ago. Maybe Saturday or Sunday (Jan 20 or 21). It seems to be likely a natural, but there's a chance it was remotely triggered by a snowmobiler (there were just a few old tracks very low so it seemed unlikely that they triggered it).
We found a very hard layer of snow in the avalanche crown face from very strong winds during the middle of January (video from Jan 12). That hard layer likely tied this entire slope together and allowed this slide to break over such a wide area.
What's notable is that generally this bowl is less than 35 degrees in steepness with some small steeper rollovers, so it isn't the steepest terrain.
Photo 1 - Layers in the crown face. Indentations indicate hardness (fist - the softest, 4 fingers, 1 finger, Pencil - the very hard layer)
Photo 2 (Deutschlander) - Overview of the slide
Photo 3 (Deutschlancer) - View of the left (south end) showing the mostly mild terrain (still steeper than 30 degrees and still avalanche terrain)
Photo 4 - Looking to the north. Everything you can see in the photo avalanched
Photo 5 (Deutschlander) - Looking at the right side (north side) of the slide and how it broke into the trees.