Vail & Summit County

Avalanche

Chuck Savall · Feb 21, 2020 · Vail & Summit County

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Weather

Sunny, winds L&V, 35F

Snowpack

Wind loaded ridge, crown of avalanche was 15-20 feet tall, several recent snow storms

Avalanche

I was up on Machine Gun Ridge with some friends. We watched some snowmobilers repeatedly riding up this area. It'a a wind-loaded ridge that avalanches on a regular basis. It had tons of fresh snow to help make it as dangerous as it ever gets. After the riders had made about 10 loops up and down high-marking, after one rider had just reached the bottom, and another rider was about to start up, the entire wall of snow let loose, right down to the rocks, about 20 feet deep. As we watched from across the valley, we knew they were going to trigger a slide. Of course, at the moment it let go, my iPhone was in my pocket so I didn't capture it with video