Avalanche
- Slab Width
- 12 m
- Trigger Type
- Natural
- Slab Thickness
- 30 cm
- Start Zone Aspect
- East
- Start Zone Elevation
- 2896 m
My partner and I made a couple laps in Yellow Jacket Trees today. The ridge at the top of Yellow Jacket sported strong westerly winds and lot of fresh cornice growth. We didn't touch them on our first lap, as poor visibility prevented us from seeing the whole run out zone. On our second lap, around 3pm, visibility improved and we were able to be certain that no one was below us. We were able to stomp off a number of fresh microwave-sized cornices. A few triggered small wind pockets, but only one caused a notable avalanche. It started as a small wind pocket also, about 15' wide and 6-10" deep. As this one slid down slope it entrained more snow, and by the bottom of the slope appeared to be 40-50' wide and ~12" deep. It ran about 400 vertical feet to the bottom of the bowl. I'd call it D-1.5, not big enough to bury someone but enough to take you for a wild ride. The improved visibility allowed us to notice 2 similar-sized debris piles also in Depth Hoar Bowl, likely natural cornice-triggered. Wind loaded terrain seemed touchy, non-wind loaded slopes showed no sign of instability.