Front Range

Avalanche

On 05/12/15 two skiers approached the NF of Longs Peak via the boulder field. During the approach high winds were observed (30 + mph) from multiple directions. Snow pack on the approach varied from soft powder to wind swept hard pack. No significant snow instability was observed during the approach. At approximately 8:00 am the party arrived at Chasm View below the NF of Longs Peak. After a short transition from ski gear to climbing gear skier 1 started to boot kick up the snow slope below the “Cables Route”. Skier 2 was standing on a small platform at Chasm View. No test pit was dug at that time. Only ski pole probing and body weight quick tests were performed with no alarming signs present. After 50’ of boot kicking Skier 1 triggered a soft slab avalanche with a starting crown 50’ above him. Both skiers were swept by the avalanche. Skier 2 was carried by the slide 100’ downslope while skier 1 was carried 700’ downslope. Both skiers were partly buried with no physical injuries present. Both skiers dug themselves out at their own power. All equipment was recovered. After the incident both skiers decided to abort their attempt at skiing the NF of Longs Peak. The starting point of the avalanche was at approximately 13,500’. The crown varied in thickness from 6” to 3’. The angle of the slope at the crown was close to 50 degrees. The slide was entirely located on N slope. The slide ran for approximately 1,000’ in length and propagated to about 600’ wide. Probable causes for the avalanche were the strong winds during the last 12 hours with cross loading with fresh snow from the west and the east. Both skiers are experienced back country skiers and have formal avalanche training. This incident could have been avoided if proper testing technics were applied before entering the avalanche terrain. Both skiers admitted to being too excited to ski the rout and being too complacent to properly assess the avalanche danger.