Avalanche

Avalanche: Guardsman Pass area

JP GendronSalt Lake
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Avalanche

Slab Width
9 m
Trigger Type
Skier
Slab Thickness
15 cm
Start Zone Aspect
East
Start Zone Elevation
3048 m

Kicked off a wind slab with a ski-cut just under the rollover entrance to this east facing line. Common cross load area with winds from the north, which were quite strong and consistent all morning. Wind load was visible and ski-cut almost immediately cracked a small 3-6" crown about 30' wide. Slide gained momentum down the gut of the line, pulling new snow with it but not stepping down into any buried layers. Things came to a stop about half way down the apron, in total about 600'. The debris pile was probably not enough to fully bury anybody but getting caught would have dragged the skier through a handful of small trees that are still above our low-tide snow pack.