Vail & Summit County
AvalancheKyle Ervin · Mar 21, 2020 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Silver couloir: Buffalo Mountain. Few clouds, No precipitation, and light blowing snow out of the S-SW which was doing some cross loading in the North facing line. 12,777 ft elevation. New snow the day prior so there was snow available for transport.
Snowpack
Silver couloir: Buffalo Mountain. 12,777ft. North facing aspect. The new storm snow was reactive in areas especially in the north facing silver couloir. The interface that was buried by the new storm snow was very firm and slick. Perfect bed surface.
Avalanche
Silver couloir: Buffalo Mountain. 12,777ft. North facing aspect. Skier 1 dropped in first and headed for the y split between the skiers left and right arm of the silver couloir. As skier 1 stopped, he triggered a D1.5/R2 storm slab avalanche that ran about 1,500 feet past the choke and just onto the apron. Skier 1 was not caught and luckily it propagated below him. 6-8” crown.