Skier-Triggered Storm Slab (Sz 1.5) – Camel Humps

Quick report

Weather

cloudy, sunny, warm, wet

Ride Type

denseTrees, mellowSlopes, openTrees

Stayed Away

alpineSlopes, convexSlopes

Riding Quality

ok

Snow Conditions

crusty, heavy, wet

Avalanche Conditions

avalancheConditionSlab, avalancheConditionTemp

Skied mellow slopes on the NW slope of Camel Humps. Approximately 15 cm of recent storm snow (F to 4F) overlies the Jan 28 surface hoar layer and melt-freeze crust (2–3 cm thick). Travel included E, SE, and NW aspects, during which the new snow showed reactivity to skier traffic in steeper terrain and convex features below treeline. The bond between the new snow and the SH/MFcr was poor to non-existent while conducting hand shears. On the ski out via a NW aspect, surface snow was moist below ~1800 m, with air temperature around +1°C and rain observed in the evening down to ~1600 m.

Snowpack

Obs Type

summary

Site Aspect

NE

Cracking Observed

1

Site Elevation Band

btl

Surface Conditions

newSnow

Avalanche

Run Length

40

Slab Width

15

Trigger Type

skier

Avalanche Size

1.5

Slab Thickness

15

Trigger Sub Type

accidental

Start Zone Aspect

NW

Vegetation Cover

sparseTrees

Start Zone Incline

30

Avalanche Character

stormSlab

Number Of Avalanches

1

Start Zone Elevation

1880

Weak Layer Burial Date

2026-01-28

Avalanche Observation

12hrsAgo

Start Zone Elevation Band

tln

Avalanche Occurrence Datetime

2026-02-01T21:30:00.000Z

Incident

Group Size

2

Terrain Trap

trees

Group Activity

skiing

Number Involved

1

Number Caught Only

1

Snow Depth Trigger Point

average

Terrain Shape Trigger Point

concave

Skier triggered avalanche on a small, isolated steeper feature (~5 m) at below treeline. The slab propagated across the feature and released on the Jan 28 surface hoar / melt-freeze crust. Some shooting cracks were observed while travelling, and the feature was unsustained and skied conservatively one at a time based on these observations. The avalanche ran approximately 40 m and was ~15 m wide. The skier was carried about 10 m downslope and was partially buried to thigh depth. The skier remained on the surface and was able to self-extract.