Avalanche: Naomi Trail

Although this avalanche wasn't reported by the triggering party, it does appear to be a near miss... Tracks leading into the debris pile and evidence of a sled excavation show that this easily could have been a bad scene.. "Hard slab. 1-3 feet deep most likely snowmobile triggered."

"Kind of near the approach to the southwest facing side of Magog."

"I poked around for a minute because there was snowmobile tracks going right into the debris pile but it looks like nobody was buried."

Here's a first hand report of the same avalanche, I think: "Icy slab with ice underneath. climbing up a south facing chute on my snowmobile went to turn out and gave way it was pretty steep.. and it shot me off my snowmobile about 30 feet before I hit the ground and snowmobile rolled about 5 times. The slabs where about 2 feet thick and 2 to 3 feet wide.. the whole thing was about 25 feet wide and 100 feet long. I was not buried but my sled was."

I got in one last year under Naomi peak and sent in photos.. to me avalanches are getting more and more common..

I'm glad we all didn't have to get out the rescue gear for real...Apparently the snow is still touchy, and upper elevation terrain mostly still untested by riders...

Toby