Hollyburn Near-Miss

Avalanche

Trigger Type

skier

Wind Exposure

leeSlope

Avalanche Size

1.5

Slab Thickness

30

Trigger Sub Type

accidental

Number Of Avalanches

1

Start Zone Elevation

1161

Runout Zone Elevation

1110

Avalanche Observation

24to48hrsAgo

Avalanche Occurrence Datetime

2018-01-27T09:02:00

Incident

Group Size

4

Group Activity

skiing

Number Injured

3

Number Involved

6

Number Caught Only

0

Number Fully Buried

1

Snow Depth Trigger Point

deep

Terrain Shape Trigger Point

convex

Number Partly Buried Able Breathing

2

Group of 4 backcountry skiers skiing mature old-growth glades, west of Hollyburn Mtn, far below treeline. The party transitioned from climb to ski. The 1st skier dropped, skied slope with minor sloughing, skied to island of safety. As others prepared to drop-in, the slightly convex drop-in feature collapsed beneath them, and the fracture immediately propagated to horizontal surrounding concave slopes, and also vertically above the party to increasingly steeper slopes, up to an undetermined/non-visible extent. 3 skiers were caught in the slide. 2 skiers deployed airbags and both remained at surface though partially buried. 1 skier was fully buried, within the track at flank edge, hung up on scrub trees. The fully buried skier was immediately located with transceiver search and extracted, thanks to all individuals being properly equipped and trained. There were no injuries, and all but one ski was recovered from site.