Northern San Juan
AvalancheAnonymous · Oct 30, 2013 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Snowing moderately to heavily. Near whiteout conditions. Not much wind. temperatures in the low 30s
Snowpack
Mostly skinned on avalanche debris from the night before.
Avalanche
I knew it had been windy the night before. Most of the slopes on both sides of the chute had slid during the wind event. I followed the debris to 12800ft. On my second to last switchback I felt like I was no longer on the debris field. I took two steps and heard the wumpf. I had just enough time to look uphill and see the snow pull away from the rock above me. I fought to stay on my feet but had no control over anything. I basically gave in to the force of the snow and got washing machined back to the bottom of the chute mostly under the snow. I stopped about 150ft above the lake buried about a foot deep in unconsolidated snow that I was able to dig free of. My mouth, eyes and ears were packed full of snow. Both skis and poles were gone. I walked down to the lake and got back to my car with the help of another skier in the area.