Vail & Summit County

Avalanche

Anonymous · Jan 22, 2020 · Vail & Summit County

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Weather

Overcast, S-1, calm and protected in the trees from predominantly westerly winds. Temps felt like high teens/low 20s.

Snowpack

~35cm of low density new snow over a weak base of facets increasing in size to ground. No noted wind slab or hard slab quality. No noted signs of instability or natural avalanche activity on the ascent. HST at site of avalanche ~50cm. Similar structure to J-chute post.

Avalanche

Elevation: BTL Aspect: E/NE Type: SS Trigger: AS/u Size: R1, D1 Dimensions: 35cm deep at crown wall, 30 feet wide, ran about 1,000ft or the length of the path. Triggered on skier's right at the very top of the path. Slab released above the skier on the skier's first few turns. Slab was very soft and skier was easily able to turn out of the moving snow unharmed. Slab released on a 2cm sun crust containing 1mm facets laying over 3-4mm basal facets to ground. Avalanche ran to ground in some spots.