Size 2 avalanche - South Ribs of Simpson

Incident

Group Size

3

Terrain Trap

trees

Group Activity

skiing

Number Involved

1

Number Fully Buried

0

Snow Depth Trigger Point

average

Terrain Shape Trigger Point

concave

Number Partly Buried Able Breathing

1

Number Partly Buried Impaired Breathing

0

Size 2 triggered. Party of three. Few loose/dry sluffs in the first turns of the day made us choose a mellower slope angle in trees. 300m into the run, following a rib, the first skier went down with no issue. The second skier decided to ski a little open pocket, bridging back into supported terrain. Turn within the pocket triggered an avalanche and propagated 60m well into the open area. The avalanche ran for 70m down into an avalanche gully. Crown was 40-50cm at its thickest point and varied in thickness. The third skier had eyes and warned the skier in the avalanche, who was already skiing back into supported terrain alerting him of danger. The second skier was able to grab onto a tree early in the slide before sliding much further and being carried at greater speed into terrain traps. Skier was buried from the waist down and was left uninjured and a little shaken. Skiers spent three hours trying to locate a missing ski, and improvised using ski straps and a 6ft long branch to "skin" back over the ridge and back to the cars.