Steamboat & Flat Tops
AvalancheAnonymous ยท Mar 27, 2014
Weather
Squally with large graupel. Temps in the 20s. Winds from the SW gusting to 20. Intermittent sun. 10600ft E aspect
Snowpack
E aspect. 10600. Fresh 9-12. Denser layers below. Buried suncrust on solar aspects. Dropped several large chunks of cornice near saddle/FS Trail 1161 on similar aspect and found no instability. Minor settling when traversing the ridgeline. Area had many burned trees/anchors.
Avalanche
Skicut 20ft below ridgeline/cornices on 25-30 degree E slope. Appeared to have remote triggered from convex roller toward bottom of the slope and propagated up and out. Crown was 20-50 feet below skier who stopped next to a tree. Shooting cracks were observed leading from the skier to the crown. Recent storm slap appeared to slide on windslab or facets. The avalanche did not appear to step down into any older layers. Debris did not run far as the face ends in a large bench. Crown: apx 12in x 200ft Slide: apx 250 vertical feet