Little Yoho Valley Skier Triggered Slab
Quick reportNikos Schwelm · Jan 2, 2020 · Waterton Lakes
Quick report
- Weather
- cold, windy, cloudy
- Ride Type
- alpineSlopes, mellowSlopes, denseTrees
- Stayed Away
- steepSlopes, sunnySlopes, openTrees
- Snow Conditions
- crusty, windAffected
- Avalanche Conditions
- avalancheConditionSlab
Avalanche
Size 2 wind slab avalanche skier triggered on a lee slope (NE aspect) at treeline. Size 1 sympathetic release below a bench/tree pocket, as seen in the second photo and third photo. Final picture is of a natural slab release seen across the valley on a cross-loaded slope on Mt McArthur.
Incident
- Comment
- <p>Accidental trigger, caused by carelessness at the end of the day. The group made conservative decisions to ski low angle treed slopes in the morning, then a steeper, wind scoured slope in the afternoon. The slide was triggered on the ski out, by a snowboarder (me) riding on their heel edge, and therefore less aware of the slope above and behind them as we changed from north to northeast aspect. The slab broke 10m above the trigger point, and moved slowly on the relatively low angle slope (~30deg). The rider was able to easily turn downhill and escape the slide. Once we moved safely down to the flats, the breadth of the crown became apparent, as well as a sympathetic release on a similar aspect but below a small stand of trees. </p>