Quick report
- Cracking
- specific
- Collapsing
- specific
Today a group from the Patrol Fund Level 2 Avalanche course toured to Hellroaring Peak from the Big Mountain Summit where we remotely triggered a D2 avalanche on a Northerly aspect at ~6600 ft. We limited ourselves to low angle terrain, and were traveling on a 20-25 degree slope when we collapsed the weak layer and the avalanche released from a nearby small micro-terrain convexity, barely above 30 degrees. The crown propagated to 100 ft wide and released on the buried surface hoar layer 50-70cm deep, traveling 150 feet into the trees. Immediately prior to triggering the avalanche, we dug a pit on a NE 24 degree slope with an ECTP16 result, collapsing on the buried surface hoar. Afterward, a northerly ECT test pit close to the slide had a ECTPV result, failing on isolation. We found South slopes at the same elevation to be nonreactive/ECTX, but contained small facets above the January crust`. Along the ridge during the day we encountered repeated long shooting cracks and audible whoompfs. Snow conditions were fantastic for skiing, but we made the right decision to stay in terrain under 30 degrees.
Avalanche
- Size
- D2
- Type
- HS
- Aspect
- N
- Trigger
- AS
- Elevation
- 6600 ft
Remote-triggered D2 slab