Sale Mtn

Avalanche

JMart · Dec 18, 2020 · North Selkirk

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Quick report

Weather
cloudy, stormy
Ride Type
denseTrees, steepSlopes, openTrees
Stayed Away
alpineSlopes, convexSlopes
Riding Quality
amazing
Snow Conditions
deepPowder
Avalanche Conditions
avalancheConditionSlab

Signs of previous activity in top 50cm from during previous storm 48hrs+, where the Dec 11 SH is present is easy to initiate on unsupported or convex features. This is a late report as we were camped out, on Friday night it stormed with mod-stg winds through the night and 20cm of HN. We only packed up and departed Saturday with no obs of instability on ride out, but suspect potential for large slabs on the SH and likely WSL in TL.

Snowpack

Depth
200
Obs Type
summary
Site Aspect
E, NE, N
Test Fracture
resistant
Ski Penetration
30
Test Initiation
moderate
Foot Penetration
80
Site Elevation Band
tln, btl
Surface Conditions
newSnow
Test Failure Layer Crystal Types
surfaceHoar

DF in upper terrain where suspect more wind and SH where protected small 2-3mm sits down 50-60cm and lays 10-20cm above Dec 7 Cr (1cm P hardness). Cr was producing CTH (RP) results below the crust.

Avalanche

Run Length
100
Slab Width
5
Trigger Type
skier
Wind Exposure
noWindExposure
Avalanche Size
1.5
Slab Thickness
55
Trigger Sub Type
intentional
Start Zone Aspect
N
Vegetation Cover
sparseTrees
Start Zone Incline
35
Avalanche Character
persistentSlab
Number Of Avalanches
2-5
Start Zone Elevation
2050
Runout Zone Elevation
1980
Weak Layer Burial Date
2020-12-12T08:00:00.000Z
Weak Layer Crystal Type
surfaceHoar
Start Zone Elevation Band
tln
Avalanche Occurrence Datetime
2020-12-18T12:00:00

Chute feature with no wind effect. Higher up the ridge in more open terrain this layer was only DF's producing CTM RP results. Ski cut convex feature at entry to chute, easy to initiate with F going to 4F+ above SH 2-3mm which lays 10cm above Dec 7 Cr. Ran to slight bench before next roll over. Adjacent chute Sc as well, smaller amount of snow entrained and ran shorter. Sz 1