Southern San Juan
AvalancheAnonymous · Feb 3, 2014 · Southern San Juan
Weather
Cold, cloudy and snowing all day long; 2-4 inches of accumulation by days end. Light southwest winds 10-20mph. -North aspects of Spud Mountain; 10,00-11,00 feet
Snowpack
New snow accumulations of 30 inches. Poor bonding of new snow with considerable cracking and woofing. Woofing would often occur for second or third skier on the skin track.
Avalanche
After skiing two runs off Hob Knob in steeper treed and rocky terrain, with no incident, the group then decided on one more run near the skin track. The entree to this run was similar to previous runs with thick trees and rocky outcroppings, but after 300 vertical feet it placed the group on the margin (far west side) of a large lower angled open area beneath obvious cliff band. This cliff band is easy seen from the road. Open area ranked form 30-35 degrees in steepness. Skier #1- skied to the top of a large opening and took refuge near large old growth trees above large opening beneath large cliff band. Open terrain was 30-35 degrees in steepness. Skier #2- skied down to near skier #1 and stopped 30 feet above skier #1 by another large tree. After just ten seconds of skier #2 being there, a large crack was seen propagating from five feet beneath skier #2's stopping point. Skier #1 saw the snow at his feet begin to move and he quickly skied left (west) and was off the moving snow after traversing 20 feet. The avalanche then picked up momentum and ran full track. Crown line propagated along entire cliff band margin for maybe 1000 feet. Crown height was 3-4 feet think. AS-r, R4, D2 Skiers #3 and #4 came down to skiers #1 and #2 and group then descended degree and were quickly back to the up track with no injuries.