Vail & Summit County

Avalanche

Jeremy Deem · Mar 3, 2021 · Vail & Summit County

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Weather

20210303 Clear sky, no precipitation. From the ABasin SA-Summit Weather Station: 2021 Mar 03, 03:00pm Temp 30F, MxTp 30, MnTp 16, DewP -9, RM 18, Spd 8, Dir 181, Gst 18

Snowpack

Sno24: 0.0

Avalanche

20210303. 1447 (Observation time, not the time the slide occurred). NE Bowl of Independence Mountain between Keystone and Montezuma. 39~34'40"N 105~54'34"W. ~12,500'. Aspect NE. *Observed from Montezuma Road, near the Denver Water Roberts Tunnel access portal property. Slope angle unknown. Elevation of crown face: ~12,500'. This was a slab avalanche, but cannot be sure whether it would be classified as wet, hard, or soft. I would assume, based on the NE aspect, the temperatures at that elevation, and on the large angular chunks of debris left in the path that it was HS. Cause of release Unknown. R3 (It did not jump the ridges to the lookers right or left and cause the proximate bowls to slide. D3. Unknown bed surface. See Google Earth images for size of slab width (2,456') and vertical fall (3,468'). I could not see the terminus however. I do not know anything else about the slide due to the far distance that I was from it. I observed the crown through binoculars and it appeared to be +/- 10'