Quick report
- Slope Angle
- 36°
Avalanche
- Slab Width
- 8 m
- Weak Layer
- Facets
- Trigger Type
- Skier
- Vertical Fall
- 30 m
- Avalanche Type
- Hard Slab
- Slab Thickness
- 30 cm
- Trigger Detail
- Unintentionally Triggered
- Start Zone Aspect
- Northeast
- Avalanche Problem
- Wind Slab
- Start Zone Elevation
- 3200 m
I was digging a pit in the moraines just up canyon from Tele Gold when I heard a male voice yell, "Avalanche! Avalanche! Avalanche!" I stopped what I was doing and skied towards the slope where I heard the yelling. By the time I got to the slide, the party had left. There was one ski track in, which triggered the slide, and three tracks out the bottom. This was a small slide, it is unknown whether the skier was caught and carried. This was certainly not big enough to bury a person, but it was a foot deep and could easily push you into some trees or over a cliff band.
The weak layer was faceted snow. This is the same layer of VERY weak, faceted snow that Mark and I identified on Friday 3-8 while touring up Corkscrew Glades. I spent the rest of the day tracking this weak layer. It seems to be very spotty and isolated to sparsely treed Northerly facing slopes near treeline and below. This unlucky skier happened to find the right combination where this layer existed and also had a fresh wind-drift sitting on top waiting for a trigger. This layer is not widespread enough to be a full-on PWL problem type, but it deserves to be on everyone's radar. We are expecting snow and wind for the next several days. This weak layer will be very sensitive with any sort of slab on top.
The weak layer is easily seen in this photo. The crown is seen in the background.