Fatal Recreational Avalanche Incident Phalanx Mtn 2021-02-12

Quick report

Weather

windy, cold

Ride Type

alpineSlopes

Stayed Away

convexSlopes

Riding Quality

terrible

Snow Conditions

windAffected, hard

Avalanche Conditions

avalancheConditionSound

Before reaching the West aspect of Phalanx Mountain where the avalanche was triggered, we felt two whumphs under our skies while crossing the NE aspect of Phalanx Glacier.

Weather

Avg Temp

-18

Max Temp

-16

Min Temp

-23

Wind Speed

windSpeedStrong

Blowing Snow

moderate

Sky Condition

scatteredClouds

Wind Direction

NE

New Snow24 Hours

0

Storm Snow Amount

0

Temperature Trend

steady

Precipitation Type

none

Precipitation24 Hours

0

Avalanche

Run Length

650

Trigger Type

skier

Wind Exposure

reverseLoadedSlope

Avalanche Size

2.5

Slab Thickness

50

Trigger Sub Type

accidental

Start Zone Aspect

W

Vegetation Cover

openSlope

Avalanche Character

windSlab

Number Of Avalanches

1

Start Zone Elevation

2200

Runout Zone Elevation

1700

Start Zone Elevation Band

alp

Avalanche Occurrence Datetime

2021-02-12T20:20:00.000Z

Incident

Group Size

3

Terrain Trap

cliff

Group Activity

skiing

Number Injured

0

Number Involved

2

Number Caught Only

0

Number Fully Buried

2

Snow Depth Trigger Point

shallow

Terrain Shape Trigger Point

planar

Number Partly Buried Able Breathing

0

Number Partly Buried Impaired Breathing

0

Victims: 2 subjects were fully buried by the avalanche. One person was recovered near the toe of the slide with injuries and evacuated by helicopter. The second was found higher in the path but did not survived. Summary of events: We accessed the backcountry from the resort, skied down the Spearhead Glacier, reached the summit of Phalanx Mountain from the Stair Master and dropped into Phalanx Glacier. This is where our level of concern started to rise. The snow was different. The slope was wind-affected, eroded. The wind was blowing hard on us. 50 km/h with stronger gusts. That surprised us. We were expecting the winds to be light that day. We were confused. Have the winds been blowing like that all night? Should we check any update on the avalanche bulletin and forecast? A little further we felt two whumphs under our skies while crossing the NE aspect to reach the ridge. These were signs of instabilities. We had a bad feeling. The snowpack was not stable. Where to go? Was there a better route at this point? It was 3:00 pm and everyone was cold. Poop Chute was the route we initially planned and the most direct route to the resort. It was on the West aspect, so opposite to where we hear the whumphs, but on the lee side of the wind. At this point, we were concerned of triggering a weak persistent layer underneath the rocky shallow snowpack. We were also worried about crossing a wind-slab pocket. We’ve decided to stick to the initial plan and ski that slope with caution. The briefing at the top was hard to do with the strong winds blowing on us. Roxane was leading the way, traversing towards Poop Chute, when the accident happened. She was moving the group with caution, one by one, from one island of safety to another. The angle of the slope was mellow on the other side of the ridge. Just before reaching Poop Chute, Louis followed her while she was still traversing, did a turn, and their weight combined triggered the avalanche. A shooting crack run in front of Lee, just above the two others. They didn’t hear anything. The slab started to slide silently with Louis and Roxane still skiing on it. Lee understood the horror of the situation and yelled « Avalanche! ». But it was too late. Everything happened so fast. The slab brought them over a 30 feet cliff and continued into a steep chute down the mountain. They disappeared in the imposing white cloud and got fully buried in a few seconds. Luckily, an AST 2 team was training near the toe of the avalanche that day. They were the first responders and helped Lee dig Roxane out. Without them, she would probably not be alive today. Roxane was buried deeper then two meters below the surface. Barely breathing, but still conscious. Her head was out in approximately 7 minutes, and it took a little longer to dig her hole body out. The Ski Patrol was already there, rescuing a skier that triggered an avalanche on a parallel couloir. They organised her rescue by helicopter to Vancouver General Hospital and dug Louis out. He was unconscious and not breathing when they found him. We learned later that he broke his neck in the trauma. We lost our friend that afternoon. Everything can change so fast. Life is going to be different from now on. Permanently. Mountains are powerful. Breathtaking. Other comment: Please, be careful out there. Especially this season. Winds have been all over the place, coming from unusual directions, and lots of abnormal weather cycles have buried deep instabilities that haven’t healed properly. The snowpack is complex and unpredictable. Also, always take the information concerning the avalanche bulletin and forecast with a grain of salt. Do your own assessments, especially on the field. The danger level rated by avalanche.ca for that day was initially LOW. It changed to CONSIDERABL at 9:25am the morning of the incident, but we were already in the mountains. The winds were forecasted to be light, but strong to moderate winds actually blew on alpine ridges the night before the incident and through the day, accumulating fragile pockets of wind slabs on opposite aspects.