Quick report
The snowpack on the north facing slope well below the cornice was 2 meters deep with a weak layer sensible by probing located 1.3 meters down from the surface beneath a firm slab. The nearby weather station recorded 16" in the past week, 8" in the past 24 hours. The 24HN was not wind affected. Ski pen was 35 cm. Snow was medium density ~7-8% despite yesterday's warm weather. On descent at 3 pm, the upper 5cm was begining to warm and was moist near trees and lower in wind sheltered areas.
Given the cool, breezy and mostly cloudy weather and mostly dry snowpack observed today, size 1- wet loose slides seem likely and wet slabs avalanches up to size 2 seem possible tomorrow due to the much warmer and sunnier conditions. We weren't able to look at the south side of Angle or the Pinnacles, but there was likely some wet loose activity there today.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- broken
- Wind Loading
- previous
- Recent Snowfall
- 30
- Snow Avail For Transport
- large amounts
Cloud cover grew from 20 percent to 70 percent around mid-day. Temps remained in the low twenties.
Avalanche
- Size
- D1.5 R1
- Type
- C
- Aspect
- NE
- Trigger
- AW
- Elevation
- 10000 ft
12-passenger van sized piece of cornice was unintentionally triggered by 55 pound canine, ironically a retired avalanche rescue dog. The falling cornice triggered a ~60cm thick slab that failed near the ground on the steep rocky area below. The cornice and debris entrained enough snow to bury a person. Tracks in the snow indicate the K9 was carried ~100' downslope. The primary heuristical trap at play in the group was the expert halo on the master, which is almost always the case with this partnership. Poor communication in the team lead to a failure to respect safety guidelines near the edge. After noting the subject's absence, the other skier's probed carefully to the edge to establish communication with the victim. The skiers then found a natural break in the cornices up the ridge and set a track down to assist the victim. The victim was uninjured and completely unshaken by the incident, unlike her owner.