Mount Whymper Skier Triggered
Quick reportcarlosbagni7 · Jan 20, 2024 · Lake Louise
Quick report
- Weather
- cloudy, warm
- Ride Type
- alpineSlopes, convexSlopes, openTrees, steepSlopes
- Riding Quality
- ok
- Snow Conditions
- crusty, heavy, powder, windAffected
- Avalanche Conditions
- avalancheConditionSlab
Interesting day out on Mount Whymper N Col. Intended to ski the N Col and the bottom of X Couloir. ECT 30 NF at fan of the couloir with HS of 200cm, however whoomphing and shooting cracks were present at the beginning of the approach. Turned around and headed up the N Col. Skiing was a mix of hard wind crust, heavy powder and awkward turns with no major signs of instability other than one very small wind slab release. Then the day got more interesting. Two skiers ahead of us skied the main tree line shoot at the base of the approach with no issues, then the first member of our group skied slightly skiers left of there tracks the get fresh turns and triggered a relatively large slide. Shown in photos, crown was roughly 40cm deep and 50 ft wide, run out was almost to the bottom of the chute roughly 300+ feet. No injuries as the skier had picked an island of safety and skied to it once the slap released. Good reminder that terrain selection is very important. The first two skiers were on the right side of the chute which was sligtly less steep and less convex than 30 feet to skiers left where our group member triggered a slide. Good lesson learned and the McDonald's at the end of the day made for a nice reward.
Weather
- Avg Temp
- -5
- Max Temp
- -4
- Min Temp
- -15
- Wind Speed
- windSpeedLight
- Blowing Snow
- none
- Sky Condition
- overcast
- New Snow24 Hours
- 0
- Storm Start Date
- 2024-01-16
- Storm Snow Amount
- 19
- Temperature Trend
- steady
- Precipitation Type
- none
- Precipitation24 Hours
- 0
Avalanche
- Run Length
- 100
- Slab Width
- 20
- Trigger Type
- skier
- Wind Exposure
- leeSlope
- Avalanche Size
- 1.5
- Slab Thickness
- 40
- Trigger Sub Type
- accidental
- Start Zone Aspect
- N, NW
- Vegetation Cover
- sparseTrees
- Start Zone Incline
- 40
- Avalanche Character
- stormSlab, windSlab
- Crust Near Weak Layer
- 1
- Number Of Avalanches
- 1
- Start Zone Elevation
- 2300
- Runout Zone Elevation
- 2200
- Avalanche Observation
- 12hrsAgo
- Weak Layer Crystal Type
- facets, stormSnow
- Start Zone Elevation Band
- tln
- Avalanche Occurrence Datetime
- 2024-01-20T21:30:00.000Z
Referenced in Quick Description comment.
Incident
- Group Size
- 7
- Terrain Trap
- gullyDepression
- Group Activity
- skiing
- Number Injured
- 0
- Number Involved
- 1
- Number Caught Only
- 1
- Number Fully Buried
- 0
- Snow Depth Trigger Point
- average
- Terrain Shape Trigger Point
- convex
- Number Partly Buried Able Breathing
- 0
- Number Partly Buried Impaired Breathing
- 0
See Quick Description