Close call on McGill Shoulder/Camp West
Quick reportParks Canada Visitor Safety · Feb 27, 2024 · Little Yoho
Quick report
- Weather
- cloudy, sunny, windy
- Snow Conditions
- powder, windAffected
- Avalanche Conditions
- avalancheConditionSlab, avalancheConditionSnow, avalancheConditionSound
Significant near-miss occurrence in the popular McGill Shoulder/Camp West backcountry ski zone of Glacier National Park. See Avalanche and Incident tabs for more details.
Avalanche
- Run Length
- 600
- Slab Width
- 75
- Trigger Type
- skier
- Wind Exposure
- leeSlope
- Avalanche Size
- 3
- Trigger Sub Type
- remote
- Start Zone Aspect
- SE
- Trigger Distance
- 5
- Vegetation Cover
- sparseTrees
- Start Zone Incline
- 40
- Avalanche Character
- persistentSlab
- Crust Near Weak Layer
- 1
- Number Of Avalanches
- 1
- Start Zone Elevation
- 2170
- Runout Zone Elevation
- 1600
- Weak Layer Burial Date
- 2024-02-03
- Avalanche Observation
- 12hrsAgo
- Weak Layer Crystal Type
- facets
- Start Zone Elevation Band
- tln
- Avalanche Occurrence Datetime
- 2024-02-27T20:30:00.000Z
SE lee feature at top of Camp West Lite. Explosive control 2 days previous, ~50m to the SW, triggered a sz 3 slab avalanche. Pockets that have not released from the previous cycle are primed for human-triggering.
Incident
- Group Size
- 8
- Group Activity
- skiing
- Number Involved
- 0
- Number Fully Buried
- 0
- Snow Depth Trigger Point
- variable
- Terrain Shape Trigger Point
- concave
Two touring groups on McGill Shoulder yesterday illustrated why communicating with each other is absolutely necessary in popular backcountry destinations. One group had dropped into Camp West ~3min before the 2nd group remote-triggered an avalanche into the path they were skiing. The group in the slide path saw the avalanche and were in a safe location to avoid being hit. The upper group called Parks Canada rescue and alerted them of the event, but deemed the path too dangerous to go and check if the lower group was buried. Parks Canada flew the path/debris with a helicopter to visually ensure no one had been involved. This was ~1hr after the event. If someone had been caught, they likely would not have had a favourable outcome. Takeaways from this event? 1. Talk with other groups in the area and make plans with them to descend slopes safely, especially when there are lots of people around. 2. If you witness or trigger an avalanche, at a minimum contact Parks Canada rescue services (1.877.852.3100) to get resources rolling! If you know no one was affected/buried, still call. It will save a needless helicopter flight to clear the debris. 3. Avalanche burials are time critical. If it is safe to enter the path, people who are already on-scene will be able to provide the highest likelihood of a positive outcome for anyone who has been buried. Stay safe out there!