Quick report
- Cracking
- specific
- Collapsing
- specific
Several small slides of mildly cohesive slab measuring 2-6” in depth.
Avalanche
Leading a party of four individuals up a climb in Shoestring Gully, I triggered multiple small slab slides in the widest portion of the gully between the first and second ice steps yesterday (2/7). Some of these fractured nearly the entire width of the gully. The slab depth ranged from 2-6 inches and luckily wasn’t cohesive enough to propagate into a large single slide, and generally broke up within 20-30 feet of sliding. While the scope and size was limited, and ultimately did not prevent a safe ascent, it could catch an unexpecting or unobservant climber unaware, leading to being knocked off their feet. Risk of burial was essentially zero, but risk of tumbling down the gully was possible. There also appeared to be a thicker slab measuring 24-30” sitting above another weak layer, which I suspect would take a very large amount of force to trigger given the anatomy of the gully. Given the distance and length of potential slab build up in the gully, I suspect a serious event would be unlikely, but increased caution above baseline in this west-facing gully should be recommended. Snow pack above the last large ice step yesterday was more cohesive.