Trophy Mountain Avalanche Incident
Incidentjeremy · Feb 5, 2022 · Clearwater
Quick report
- Weather
- cloudy, windy, sunny
- Ride Type
- mellowSlopes, denseTrees, openTrees
- Stayed Away
- convexSlopes, alpineSlopes
- Riding Quality
- good
- Snow Conditions
- crusty, powder, heavy, windAffected, hard
- Avalanche Conditions
- avalancheConditionSnow, avalancheConditionSlab
Weather
- Avg Temp
- -5
- Max Temp
- -9
- Min Temp
- -4
- Wind Speed
- windSpeedExtreme
- Blowing Snow
- intense
- Sky Condition
- scatteredClouds
- Wind Direction
- NW
- New Snow24 Hours
- 6
- Storm Start Date
- 2022-02-03
- Storm Snow Amount
- 15
- Temperature Trend
- steady
- Precipitation Type
- snow
Avalanche
- Run Length
- 150
- Slab Width
- 150
- Trigger Type
- skier
- Wind Exposure
- crossLoadedSlope
- Avalanche Size
- 2
- Slab Thickness
- 20
- Trigger Sub Type
- remote
- Start Zone Aspect
- NE
- Trigger Distance
- 20
- Vegetation Cover
- sparseTrees
- Start Zone Incline
- 30
- Avalanche Character
- windSlab, stormSlab
- Number Of Avalanches
- 2-5
- Start Zone Elevation
- 2120
- Runout Zone Elevation
- 2040
- Weak Layer Burial Date
- 2022-02-05
- Avalanche Observation
- 24to48hrsAgo
- Weak Layer Crystal Type
- stormSnow
- Start Zone Elevation Band
- tln
- Avalanche Occurrence Datetime
- 2022-02-05T18:00:00.000Z
Ski remote triggered 20 meters that propagated about 150 meters up and along the slope above. The first avalanche was wind slab with a 20-30 cm crown. Moments later, a second avalanche started about 10 meters below the first on the previous storm slab with all of the debris coming to rest in a small flat area and a nearby depression.
Incident
- Group Size
- 6
- Terrain Trap
- slopeTransitionOrBench
- Group Activity
- skiing
- Number Injured
- 0
- Number Involved
- 1
- Number Caught Only
- 0
- Number Fully Buried
- 0
- Snow Depth Trigger Point
- average
- Terrain Shape Trigger Point
- planar
- Number Partly Buried Able Breathing
- 1
- Number Partly Buried Impaired Breathing
- 0
Our group of six was traversing across a relatively flat area about 20 meters from the base of a wind loaded slope following a line of trees. One of the group proceeded to move ahead a little bit to our next rally point. As he moved onto the bench out of the trees, he remotely triggered the first slide. As it was coming down, he had nearly moved out of the way when a second, deeper slab released. The second avalanche caught up with him before he was clear and he was swept away. Multiple members of the group witnessed this happening and noted his point last seen. After waiting a few moments for the avalanche to end, the group ensured they were safe, switched to search, and then had a couple of members start towards the buried member. Within two minutes, his head and one arm were spotted and we moved to his location. He had been swept about 15 meters from him PLS. He was fine with no impaired breathing and no injuries and we had him freed within a few minutes. He still had his poles and one ski and we found the second after a few minutes of searching.