Above Hanging Lake
Incidentsnowguy · Feb 2, 2021 · Brandywine
Quick report
- Weather
- foggy, cloudy, sunny
- Ride Type
- steepSlopes, openTrees
- Riding Quality
- good
- Snow Conditions
- deepPowder
- Avalanche Conditions
- avalancheConditionSnow, avalancheConditionSlab
Avalanche
- Run Length
- 70
- Slab Width
- 12
- Trigger Type
- skier
- Wind Exposure
- crossLoadedSlope
- Avalanche Size
- 1.5
- Slab Thickness
- 80
- Trigger Sub Type
- accidental
- Start Zone Aspect
- S
- Vegetation Cover
- sparseTrees
- Start Zone Incline
- 30
- Avalanche Character
- stormSlab
- Crust Near Weak Layer
- 1
- Number Of Avalanches
- 1
- Start Zone Elevation
- 1550
- Avalanche Observation
- 12to24hrsAgo
- Weak Layer Crystal Type
- facets
- Start Zone Elevation Band
- tln
- Avalanche Occurrence Datetime
- 2021-02-02T14:00:00
See incident
Incident
- Group Size
- 6
- Terrain Trap
- gullyDepression
- Group Activity
- other
- Number Involved
- 1
- Number Caught Only
- 1
- Snow Depth Trigger Point
- deep
- Other Activity Description
- snowboarding
- Terrain Shape Trigger Point
- convex
I was entering the gully to the skier's left of the convexity but got too close to it and when it popped it flanked my right side and knocked me head first as I started to slide down the gully. I felt like I was fully submerged when my hand managed to pull the handle and deploy my airbag, was the best feeling ever when my head reamerged on the surface, and when I finally stopped I was mostly above the snow, looking uphill resting on the bag. So somehow I went from face down to back down, perhaps partly from what I was able to do with my arms as I got closer to the surface. Very thankful I stopped where I did as it was right before a steep drop to a lesser slope angle where I could have been re-burried, and also that I didn't hit any trees or obstacles on the way down. Also we had just done a rescue test as a group and I was only the 2nd to go in our group of 6 so I had 4 very capable rescuers right behind me had I been buried. Still very glad I had the airbag! We'd dug a pit ealier that afternoon on the east aspect just above Hanging Lake and observed 80cm of storm slab above the persistent slab crust, but it had a fairly favorable looking density gradient