Bow Falls Avalanche

Quick report

Weather

cloudy, stormy, windy

Climb Name

Bow Falls

Ice Quality

ok

Avalanche Conditions

avalancheConditionSlab, avalancheConditionSnow, avalancheConditionSound

Climbing Wind Conditions

blowingSnowAboveTheClimb, blowingSnowAcrossTheValley, blowingSnowOnTheClimb, formingCornices

Retreated From Climb Because Of

other, strongWinds

Retreated From Climb Because Of Description For Other

Avalanche, whoomphs, shooting cracks

On our way up to the ice climb we experienced storm slabs. Ice axe spike was causing small shooting cracks. Eventually a 7 meter crack occurred. I dug a quick hand shear that required a lot of force to pull. It was non planar on the storm slab interface with facets below, 20cm down. We continued 1.5 meters to the right of the left shooting crack when the entire right slope collapsed with cracks going all the way across the slope 20m and down slope 50m. We immediately started turning around when an avalanche size 2 occurred on the slope over. Winds today we're quite strong with regular whiteouts occurring.

Weather

Wind Speed

windSpeedModerate

Blowing Snow

intense

Sky Condition

overcast

Snowfall Rate

5

Wind Direction

N

Precipitation Type

snow

Snowpack

Site Aspect

E, NE

Test Fracture

unevenBreak

Test Initiation

hard

Foot Penetration

50

Cracking Observed

1

Site Elevation Band

alp

Surface Conditions

newSnow

Whumpfing Observed

1

Test Failure Layer Crystal Types

stormSnow

Avalanche

Run Length

200

Slab Width

50

Trigger Type

natural

Wind Exposure

windwardSlope

Avalanche Size

2

Start Zone Aspect

E

Vegetation Cover

openSlope

Start Zone Incline

35

Avalanche Character

corniceWithSlab, stormSlab

Number Of Avalanches

1

Avalanche Observation

12hrsAgo

Weak Layer Crystal Type

stormSnow

Start Zone Elevation Band

alp

Avalanche Occurrence Datetime

2024-02-24T17:30:00.000Z