CAIC Observation Report
AvalancheRobert Paulsen · Dec 1, 2022
Weather
26 deg F at 12000 ft
Snowpack
0-10cm basal facets, 10-20cm 1F slab, 20-22cm knife hard slab East aspect, 12000 ft elevation
Avalanche
Triggered at approximately 12,300 ft, East aspect, East flank of Coon Hill My partner (28, snowboarder, female) and I (28, skier, male) set out to find some snow to ski. Worst conditions I’ve seen at coon hill in 4 years in early December. I originally planned on skiing a northeast facing 32 deg slope, (she was new to the area) but it didn’t have enough coverage once we got eyes on it. We skinned farther north and saw a short, East-facing gulley that I estimated to be about 35 degrees. We discussed how it looked- thin but skiable, had potential to slide because of angle but didn’t seem like it had enough snow to be consequential. The gulley had a clean run-out, going from short and narrow to wide, low angle and long, and there were multiple islands of safety (ribs of rock we could stand on or just under) as we approached. As we were looking at it, a pair of male skiers about our age skinned up beside us with the same intention. One said he had seen this slope slide before. I pointed out where I was planning on going, and said we should take it one at a time and stay clear of the gulley while someone is in it. I offered to let them go first, they said it don’t matter so I kept leading toward the gulley. My partner and I regrouped at the first island of safety. I skinned across the gulley, noting a thin breakable crust and firm snow underneath. I reached a patch of grass and called back that I was going to take my skis off and boot up the thin shallow snow next to a rock rib. My partner planned on waiting at her island of safety until I had skied the upper part of the gulley, where I would rejoin her and she would take the lower part. I called out to the other group asking what their plan was and how they felt. One decided he was going to stay put below a band of rock out of the way of the gulley in case it slid. His partner skinned across the gulley while I waited, not moving so I wouldn’t trigger anything on top of him. Once his partner was across, below the rock rib I was on but still on the snow in the lower gulley, I decided to take a few more steps up to get underneath a big rock where I could take my skins off and transition. I took 4 steps in about 4-6” of snow when the slope cracked and broke around and above me to the left. I heard a shout from below, planted my feet and poles on the ground as the shallow snow around me moved past. I wasn’t in much danger as there wasn’t any snow above me, the gulley was to my left. I turned and watched the slide, it was far bigger and deeper than I had expected, with the crown up to 16” in places, and spanning the entire gulley up onto the rocks in spots. I saw my partner standing safely in her island and the snow moving past her, then looked and saw the skier below her moving away from the slide, saw he was mostly out of danger, then looked for the skier below me and saw him getting dragged with the snow, upright but losing his balance and tumbling. I saw him disappear and yelled out to get ready to ski to him and dig, then threw my skis down to get them on while watching where he disappeared. I saw him pop back up out of the snow as the avalanche slowed. He was fully out of the snow, I wasn’t sure if he had gotten tossed or the angle hid him from view. I yelled down that he was upright, out of the snow and visible. Once I was confident there wasn’t any hangfire, I skied down to my partner who was trapped on a rib of rock surrounded by fractured snow that was a foot deep. I stayed on the bed surface, calling to the other party and making sure they didn’t need medical help. The two regrouped and skied out under their own power. I stayed with my partner while she climbed up the rock rib and crossed over on some rocks to the bed surface so she could avoid the hanging pieces of snow around her. We skied down and out of danger, then skied mellow slopes back to the car and debriefed.