Incident

Avalanche: White Pine

Lindy-AdamSalt Lake
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Quick report

Slope Angle
37°

Avalanche

Slab Width
15 m
Weak Layer
New Snow/Old Snow Interface
Trigger Type
Skier
Vertical Fall
61 m
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Slab Thickness
76 cm
Trigger Detail
Unintentionally Triggered
Start Zone Aspect
West
Avalanche Problem
New Snow
Start Zone Elevation
2957 m

took a nice lap on west facing white pine, 1/2 mile or so upcanyon from fork in trail to red pine second lap, spooning tracks from previous run, slab broke on a small terrain rollover no wind loading, just slowly accumulating storm snow, added another two inches from our previous run slab broke 2-3 feet deep and moved quite a bit of snow into a grove of trees (would have been ugly) slab broke just above me, 90% of avalanche snow was below me entire time i managed to dig ski edges into bed surface to self-arrest before this group of trees airbag pack was deployed, i think this was very crucial in avoiding extended carry because it allowed me to not get pulled under, so i could dig ski edges and claw at bed surface as snow decended around me. i stopped above the trees, still on a steep slope, without injury cause is still a bit mysterious, no blatent red flags to the situation just too much fresh storm slab? sorry no pics thanks for all your diligent work uac!

Forecaster Comments: I'm not sure of the exact weakness or weather events that were happening in this area but the somewhat easterly winds may have been a contributor in adding a more rapid snow load to the slope? Kobernik

Incident

Number Caught
1
Number Carried
1