Human-triggered avalanche on Video

Avalanche

Trigger Type

skier

Avalanche Size

1.5

Trigger Sub Type

accidental

Start Zone Aspect

SE

Number Of Avalanches

1

Start Zone Elevation

2400

Avalanche Observation

12to24hrsAgo

Start Zone Elevation Band

alp

Avalanche Occurrence Datetime

2023-12-23T09:00:00.000Z

Our party witnessed a human-triggered sz 1.5 avalanche starting from a point release at the base of the bootpack on Video, which carried a party of three about 100 m downslope and partially buried all three. The party was uninjured and recovered their gear . They told us the release started in a very shallow area while they were transitioning from skinning to bootpacking . We didn’t see a crown line but had a limited view of the start zone . The affected party had dug two pits on the lower slope of Video before heading higher, and there were no other tracks put in on the newest snow . We did a compression test at the bottom of Video yielding CTM5 sudden planar down 20 cms of storm snow and CTH1 resistant planar down 50 cm on a 140 cm base. There was a firm wind crust during the ascent above hospital gully which we couldn’t feel anymore on lower aspect of Video , though the SE face had appeared very wind affected on the approach. Have fun and stay safe folks!