Winter is here at higher elevations!

Quick report

Summary of an avalanche incident that Southwest Alberta Regional SAR responded to today. Avalanche was triggered by a party of 3 hikers. All 3 members of the party were caught, with one of them getting fully buried. Fully buried person had one arm out of the snow, allowing the two other party members to locate and dig them out with their hands. Buried person had minor upper body injury, but the entire party was mobile and able to start walking out of the area. They were located and picked up on their way out by SAR team. Note that the avalanche was not directly observed by SAR team, and information about dimensions has been estimated based on photographs and information provided by party members.

Avalanche

Run Length

120

Slab Width

80

Trigger Type

skier

Wind Exposure

leeSlope

Avalanche Size

2

Trigger Sub Type

accidental

Start Zone Aspect

NE

Avalanche Character

windSlab

Number Of Avalanches

1

Start Zone Elevation

2000

Avalanche Observation

12hrsAgo

Start Zone Elevation Band

tln

Avalanche Occurrence Datetime

2024-11-03T18:00:00.000Z

Incident

Group Size

3

Group Activity

hikingScrambling

Number Involved

3

Number Caught Only

2

Number Fully Buried

1

Snow Depth Trigger Point

variable

Terrain Shape Trigger Point

convex

Number Partly Buried Able Breathing

0

Number Partly Buried Impaired Breathing

0

Summary of an avalanche incident responded to by Southwest Alberta Regional SAR today. Avalanche was triggered by a party of 3 hikers. All 3 members of the party were caught, with one of them getting fully buried. Fully buried person had one arm out of the snow, allowing the two other party members to locate and dig them out with their hands. Buried person had minor upper body injury, but the entire party was mobile and able to start walking out of the area. They were located and picked up on their way out by SAR team. Note that the avalanche was not directly observed by SAR team, and information about dimensions have been estimated based on photographs and information provided to us by party members.