Avalanche
- Weak Layer
- Facets
- Trigger Type
- Natural
- Vertical Fall
- 457 m
- Avalanche Type
- Soft Slab
- Slab Thickness
- 76 cm
- Start Zone Aspect
- Northeast
- Avalanche Problem
- Persistent Weak Layer
- Start Zone Elevation
- 2804 m
Our party of 3 had just returned to Patterson Ridge at around 12:45 after a run in lower Kessler trees when we heard what first sounded like sustained wind. We looked up to the East hanging snowfield and saw a waterfall of snow pouring over the rock band on the snowfield and a voluminous plume of snow running down toward the summer road. We walked up the uptrack for a better view and saw that almost the entire snowfield had released.
After descending through the aspens we angled over to the lower slide path to check the length of the slide. The slide scoured nearly the entire slide path below the snowfield and stopped just a few feet short of the beginning of the uptrack and the summer road. Total run of approximately 1400 feet.