Southern San Juan
AvalancheDave Kesonie · Apr 28, 2016 · Southern San Juan
Weather
Naked Lady Couloir on Snowdon Peak; Andrews Lake area of Molas Pass. NW Aspect. Temps were 0C at the parking lot at 11:00 at elevation 10,800. Near treeline the winds were gusting to 20mph and mixed snow and graupel was falling. Sky was variable, mostly overcast to scattered clouds.
Snowpack
Naked Lady Couloir on Snowdon Peak; Andrews Lake area of Molas Pass. NW Aspect. Halfway up the couloir there was an obvious storm slab averaging 14 cm but it was nonreactive to hasty shear tests. There was a lower density interface than the higher density storm snow above. In microsites, wind effect was becoming more apparent as I got above halfway up. At the top of the couloir (12,875 ft) there was a wind slab averaging 22 cm depth which was very reactive to shear forces (ski test). The bed surface was a hard cohesive transformed snow with evident dust embedded.
Avalanche
The Naked Lady Couloir ran full path from about 12,875 ft down to 12,100 ft elevation at 12:10. About five minutes later it ran again. Both were R3D2 and were skier triggered in wind slab. It seemed like it was a case of skier sluff management gone a little larger than expected, as one skier was caught. There were many people in the couloir at the time (6-7) but only one was caught with a minor injury. He was able to ski out on his own power.