Avalanche

Avalanche: Canal Creek

Brett KobernikSkyline
View on map

Avalanche

Slab Width
30 m
Trigger Type
Natural
Vertical Fall
183 m
Avalanche Type
Glide
Start Zone Aspect
East
Avalanche Problem
Gliding Snow
Start Zone Elevation
3048 m

I noticed the glide crack in the photo below on Wednesday, March 22nd. It opened up during the prolonged period of warm weather in mid March. Other glide avalanches were noted around March 17th.

A storm moved through on Thursday, March 23rd adding 10 to 12" of new snow. Since there is only a few inches of snow on the bed surface and debris in the photo below, this tells me that this avalanche released at the tail end of the snow storm.

I'm not sure that this avalanche actually fits into the "glide" category. Glide avalanches have a characteristic of releasing on the ground. It doesn't appear that this avalanched released on the ground.