Avalanches on Raspberry Ridge

Quick report

Weather

windy, warm

Snow Conditions

windAffected, crusty

Weather

Wind Speed

windSpeedStrong

Blowing Snow

moderate

Sky Condition

brokenClouds

Wind Direction

W

Precipitation Type

snow

Avalanche

Run Length

100

Slab Width

30

Trigger Type

natural

Wind Exposure

leeSlope

Avalanche Size

2

Slab Thickness

20

Start Zone Aspect

E

Vegetation Cover

openSlope

Avalanche Character

windSlab

Crust Near Weak Layer

1

Runout Zone Elevation

2200

Start Zone Elevation Band

tln

Avalanche Occurrence Datetime

2020-12-20T13:30:00

On Sunday, Dec. 20 around 1:30pm, we witnessed a windslab fracture just below the ridge top of Raspberry Ridge at around 2300m, and slid down to treeline level around 2200m. The ridge runs north-south, and the windslab fractured on the east facing leeward slope. Also saw evidence of two other similar slab slides further north along the ridge (at the steeper slopes closer to the fire lookout), and they ran out longer owing to steeper slope and no trees to slow movement. This was just before the heavy dump of snow. The rest of the hike in towards Raspberry Ridge was ankle to knee deep snow, but any attempts to gain the ridge would be best done avoiding the avalanche prone terrain using the 'easy route' by starting at the southern tip of the ridge and walking up along it, rather than attempting to gain it using the direct routes up the steep and corniced east face.