Silvern Lakes, Close call

Quick report

Weather

sunny

Ride Type

mellowSlopes, openTrees

Riding Quality

good

Snow Conditions

powder

Avalanche Conditions

avalancheConditionSlab

Weather

Avg Temp

-9

Wind Speed

windSpeedLight

Blowing Snow

none

Sky Condition

fewClouds

Temperature Trend

steady

Precipitation Type

none

Beautiful sunny day.

Avalanche

Run Length

150

Slab Width

200

Trigger Type

snowmobile

Avalanche Size

2

Slab Thickness

60

Trigger Sub Type

accidental

Start Zone Aspect

NW

Trigger Distance

30

Vegetation Cover

sparseTrees

Avalanche Character

deepPersistentSlab, persistentSlab, stormSlab, windSlab

Number Of Avalanches

1

Avalanche Observation

12hrsAgo

Weak Layer Crystal Type

depthHoar, stormSnow

Start Zone Elevation Band

tln

Avalanche Occurrence Datetime

2026-02-28T19:30:00.000Z

Incident

Group Size

4

Terrain Trap

trees

Group Activity

snowmobiling

Number Involved

1

Snow Depth Trigger Point

deep

Terrain Shape Trigger Point

concave

Number Partly Buried Able Breathing

1

I was riding at Silvern lakes, the morning was great, no signs of instability on anything that we had been riding. The bottom of this slope was flat, and I decidedly to do a small pull up, go around the trees and the come back down. I made it up no issues, threw my sled on its side, and started side hilling across to the opening where I could come back down. That’s when it hit me, I did not see it, I did not hear it, just got taken out by a tsunami of snow. I was immediately thrown from my sled and under the snow and being put through the washing machine. I was filtered through a few small trees that resulted in broken goggles and a slightly broken helmet, but luckily I did not get hung up on anything. As I was getting pushed down the slope and I felt myself starting to slow down, I punched both of my arms above my head, and luckily I was just below the surface and was able to dig myself out. With the sheer amount of snow that came down on this slope and how much got hung up on all the trees, I was very lucky to walk away from this fairly unscathed. Stay safe out there.