Quick report
- Slope Angle
- 45°
Avalanche
- Slab Width
- 18 m
- Weak Layer
- Facets
- Trigger Type
- Skier
- Vertical Fall
- 76 m
- Avalanche Type
- Hard Slab
- Slab Thickness
- 61 cm
- Trigger Detail
- Unintentionally Triggered
- Start Zone Aspect
- Northwest
- Avalanche Problem
- Persistent Weak Layer
- Start Zone Elevation
- 3048 m
We unintentionally triggered a hard slab avalanche on a very steep, rocky slope in Hideaway Park. The avalanche broke below my skis and failed 2' down in a layer of faceted snow that developed in a rocky portion of the slope. I was the second person to enter the slope, and the first rider reached the bottom and waited in a safe spot adjacent to the runout zone. I was neither not caught or carried.
What is unusual about this avalanche is that our deep snowpack is opening up lots of terrain that ordinarily wouldn't be accessible in average snowpack years. This slope is steep and rocky, and the avalanche failed in a layer of facets below a layer of rocks - a likely place to find facets, even with a deep snowpack.
HS-ASu-R3-D2