Vail & Summit County
AvalancheSusie Nothnagel · Jan 3, 2025 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Sunny, clear, no wind in the glades, I could see wind transport on the ridges above me, 25 degrees(warm for January)
Avalanche
It was my first day of backcountry touring for the season due to some extended travel. I have been reading the CAIC reports and had full awareness of the large number or remotely triggered avalanches that have been occuring. I intentionally chose a different route up for this reason--typically I skin the north side of Illinois Gulch but today I skinned the meadow/glade area to the south of the drainage. While skinning up through the meadow ( I was on a 5 degree slope at the time of the trigger) I felt a large collapse and moments later saw the avalanche just north of where I was skinning. I didn't get my phone out fast enough to video the avalanche, The first photo is from the point where I was skinning when I triggered it. I skinned up 200' higher to get better photos of the slide. There were no ski tracks anywhere else in the Illinois drainage, so i feel sure that no other parties were involved. Using CalTopo I measured 1100-1200 feet from my location to the crownline. This incident was not a close call because of my distance from the avalanche and I was not in the run out zone. It's yet another example of how touchy the snowpack is right now.