Avalanche: Yellow Jacket

Triggered a D1.5 avalanche today at 2:45pm at the top of Yellow Jacket Gulch, northwest facing slope at 9400 feet. Avalanche was 100 feet wide ran 200 vertical feet, debris pile 1 foot deep. Crown was at treeline hard to tell depth maybe 1 foot.

Skied this slope today, yesterday, and Sunday January 7. Slope averages less than 30 degrees though the start zone is likely a tad above 30. Snowpack is a couple feet deeper now than Sunday. Yesterday was quite blustery creating stout wind drifts that were mostly buried today. Today was less windy but 24 hour settled snowfall was about 1 foot.

Today’s line was about 30 feet more into the danger zone (west toward the main path) than yesterday’s.

After transitioning in the pines 150 feet below top of the Gulch near the Alexander ridge, started skiing thinking this is really good. Cut skiers left under the treeline thinking this is a little more dangerous than yesterday. Made a few turns thinking this is really very good, felt the snow moving, noticed debris flowing around me turned toward a tree and grabbed it with my pole still in my hand stopping. A wave of snow came through the spot I was standing covering my skis with compacted debris. Took a few seconds to shake my skis loose.

First photo is the tree I grabbed.

Second photo is looking down the debris field from the tree I grabbed.

Third photo is 20 feet east of the tree I grabbed looking up the debris field. Zooming the photo it looks like the crown abuts the treeline.