Quick report
- Slope Angle
- 37°
Avalanche
- Slab Width
- 30 m
- Weak Layer
- Facets
- Vertical Fall
- 30 m
- Avalanche Type
- Hard Slab
- Slab Thickness
- 152 cm
- Trigger Detail
- Cornice Triggered
- Start Zone Aspect
- Northeast
- Avalanche Problem
- Persistent Weak Layer
- Start Zone Elevation
- 3078 m
Stumbled onto this somewhat older avalanche in the Elizabeth Ridge area today. Did not think it was much when I first viewed it from the ridge line, but holy cow this has me scratching my head. This northeast facing slope is not really much of a slope, it is steep for a short distance but loses slope angle quite fast. The depth at the top of the crown is around 16" deep with one flank breaking as deep as 5' or more. I could not quite figure out what the weak layer is until I kept moving around the crown and finally found the buried crust with small faceted snow above the crust. This is a very hard dense slab of snow that I'm guessing a piece of cornice triggered this slide, I did not see any tracks around and not sure a person could trigger this??? It may have happened last weekend with the steady strong winds that went on for days. This is likely a real outlier, but for me it is a good reminder that a buried crust with faceted snow above and below can still be a layer to keep an eye on.
A few soft new snow slabs along the ridge lines not breaking very wide and manageable in size today.