Avalanche

Dozens of small wind slab avys on the way to Rae Glacier

brendan.clarkHighwood Pass
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Quick report

Riding Quality
terrible

While walking up to Rae Glacier (we were hiking in boots, nowhere near enough snow for skiing), we popped out about a dozen size 0.5 avalanches on a stiff wind slab layer. The propagation was surprisingly far - up to 10m in spots. The slab was surprisingly thick, up to 20cm. We were in no danger because of the simple terrain and lack of snow depth - but this could have easily been more serious in a steeper terrain feature with a terrain trap or above an ice climb. Avalanche season is here!

Avalanche

Run Length
1
Slab Width
10
Trigger Type
skier
Wind Exposure
leeSlope
Avalanche Size
1
Slab Thickness
20
Trigger Sub Type
accidental
Vegetation Cover
openSlope
Avalanche Character
windSlab
Number Of Avalanches
11-50
Start Zone Elevation
2300
Weak Layer Burial Date
2023-10-24
Start Zone Elevation Band
alp
Avalanche Occurrence Datetime
2023-10-30T05:30:00.000Z

While walking up to Rae Glacier (we were hiking in boots, nowhere near enough snow for skiing), we popped out about a dozen size 0.5 avalanches on a stiff wind slab layer. The propagation was surprisingly far - up to 10m in spots. The slab was surprisingly thick, up to 20cm. We were in no danger because of the simple terrain and lack of snow depth - but this could have easily been more serious in a steeper terrain feature with a terrain trap or above an ice climb. Avalanche season is here!