Familiarity bias
Avalanchemikeclausing · Dec 25, 2023 · Coquihalla
Quick report
- Weather
- foggy, stormy
- Ride Type
- steepSlopes
- Riding Quality
- good
- Snow Conditions
- powder
Ski cut the top, felt good, made 3 turns then triggered a 40-80cm slab on poorly supported terrain. Fortunately I bounced over the hazards and landed in soft snow, unburied. A left shoulder dislocation and a Chilliwack SAR rescue ensued. Did I get some sense slapped into me? Yes I did. We could not see the bed surface due to practicalities but the wide propogation sure has the flavour of facets in fairly sheltered and lee terrain. I did not make a responsible decision and yr this is the outcome. A special Thank You to to Chilliwack SAR and Valley Helicopters for utilizing a very narrow weather window to come rescue me. Getting out of there would have been character building to say the least.
Avalanche
- Run Length
- 200
- Slab Width
- 200
- Trigger Type
- otherVehicle
- Wind Exposure
- leeSlope
- Avalanche Size
- 2
- Trigger Sub Type
- accidental
- Start Zone Aspect
- NW
- Vegetation Cover
- openSlope
- Start Zone Incline
- 38
- Avalanche Character
- windSlab
- Crust Near Weak Layer
- 1
- Number Of Avalanches
- 1
- Start Zone Elevation
- 1825
- Runout Zone Elevation
- 1650
- Weak Layer Crystal Type
- surfaceHoarAndFacets
- Start Zone Elevation Band
- alp
- Avalanche Occurrence Datetime
- 2024-12-25T19:40:00.000Z
We did not inspect the bed surface. This is speculation