Steep Crk Remote Trigger

Quick report

Weather

cold, sunny

Ride Type

denseTrees, mellowSlopes, openTrees

Stayed Away

convexSlopes, steepSlopes

Riding Quality

amazing

Snow Conditions

powder

Avalanche Conditions

avalancheConditionSlab, avalancheConditionSound

Party of 2 set out up Steep Crk today with the intention to ski dense trees and low angle open treed slopes. Several localized whumpfs were felt in low angle trees (on pillows/logs) after ascending through dense glades. Decided to continue to a familiar low angle slope above. Once at the open slope, we were lured a little further than originally intended by an absence of further whumpfs and tempting snow, despite being aware of the touchy conditions and forecast. We aimed for a safe zone below and to the side of the prominent slide path above as an end point to transition. Spacing out, skier 1 reached the transition point. While approaching approximately 15m back, skier 2 shouted they felt a significant whumpf and settlement, which was also felt by skier 1. This remote triggered the full avalanche path about 200m above. Skier 2 quickly moved to the side before the debris reached their location, indicated by the red arrow in the photo. The crown propagated approximately 150m across and ran about 300m with an estimated crown depth of 80-100cm, suspected of failing on the late January crust. Promptly called it a day and skied very conservatively back down our skin track. Multiple more whoompfs were felt throughout the decent. In hindsight, we recognized the many red flags that we ignored. The first whumpf of the day should have given us pause to turn around and complacency from being in a very familiar piece of terrain also played a role in feeling a false sense of security. A very humbling day, and grateful to walk away with lessons learned and not more serious consequences.

Avalanche

Run Length

300

Slab Width

150

Trigger Type

skier

Wind Exposure

leeSlope

Avalanche Size

2

Slab Thickness

80

Trigger Sub Type

remote

Start Zone Aspect

NW

Trigger Distance

200

Vegetation Cover

sparseTrees

Start Zone Incline

35

Avalanche Character

persistentSlab

Number Of Avalanches

1

Start Zone Elevation

2100

Runout Zone Elevation

1940

Avalanche Observation

12hrsAgo

Start Zone Elevation Band

alp

Avalanche Occurrence Datetime

2024-03-03T19:30:11.494Z

Incident

Group Size

2

Terrain Trap

slopeTransitionOrBench

Group Activity

skiing

Number Injured

0

Number Involved

0

Number Caught Only

0

Number Fully Buried

0

Terrain Shape Trigger Point

planar

Number Partly Buried Able Breathing

0

Number Partly Buried Impaired Breathing

0

Close call remote triggering a size 2 avalanche 200m from below. See general summary tab for details.