Avalanche
- Slab Width
- 9 m
- Trigger Type
- Skier
- Avalanche Type
- Dry Loose
- Slab Thickness
- 15 cm
- Trigger Detail
- Unintentionally Triggered
- Start Zone Aspect
- Northwest
- Avalanche Problem
- New Snow
- Start Zone Elevation
- 3231 m
We watched several groups milling around on Red Baldy from a good vantage point at White Pine Dam. Of note, a small group topped out during a break in the clouds and skied off the summit. Skier 1 dropped into the Rock & Roll chute on northwest facing Red Baldy and skied top to bottom with no moving snow. Skier 2 dropped in from a more northerly facing entrance farther down the ridge and triggered a sluff that continued to gain mass and traveled just ahead of the skier through the chute. Skier 1 was well out to the side on a moraine below the main skin track to the north. However the sluff did travel far enough to reach a previously used skin track and cover it up, as well as the previous skier's track. There was also a party of 5 chilling down on another bench just out of the fall line from the slide. In a 15 minute period, we watched 15 people ski off or underneath the Red Baldy Run in upper White Pine. At many times, the groups were on top of each other, and it is unclear if a consistent visual line of sight can be obtained from summit to moraine for many of these runs.
Photo 1: Red Baldy just as clouds partnered, prior to the avalanche. Note main skinner on looker's left, old skinner in center of frame.
Photo 2: Rock and Roll Chute with Avalanche. Clouds came in just as second skier dropped.