Incident

Avalanche: Figure 8 Hill

DougSalt Lake
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Avalanche

Slab Width
27 m
Trigger Type
Skier
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Slab Thickness
91 cm
Trigger Detail
Unintentionally Triggered
Start Zone Aspect
Northeast
Avalanche Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Start Zone Elevation
3018 m

Party of 3. No perceived instability after 3 laps and a ski cut on the west side of Millicent. NE aspect of Figure 8 hill seduced us away from our better judgment for the last run of the day. Fist skier had made 4-5 turns when the whole side of the hill slid 3-4ft to the ground across a 50 yard wide crown and ran out 150 yards. He was carried 30-50 yards settling with his head and shoulder out. Didn’t need the beacons as he was able to yell and only took a few minutes to dig him out. Unfortunately his shoulder was dislocated and we were unsuccessful at reducing it in the field. With a lot of grit, he was able to ski/skin down to the parking lot and on to the ER to get it taken care of. Glad he and the rest of us were blessed to be alive and left only with recoverable injuries and a whole lot of humility and respect.

Incident

Number Caught
1
Number Carried
1
Number Partly Buried
1

Forecaster comments: Thank you for sharing the info. Best recovery for the injured party. More later.