Sawatch

At 4:00 PM, Sunday, January 29th, I was descending past 11,700 feet into a broad chute that split into three columns 1) west side gully that dropped significantly 2) Middle section that leveled with a small island of young evergreen and then steepened to a cliff band below 3) east side gully. The chute was facing north / northeast.

After a short glissade, I began to walk. Fracture line 50 meters above me at the top of a short steep section (45 degrees). Instantaneously, I was swept in the middle of the avalanche, which moved me 50 meters towards the island of trees. The back swim seemed to help, but eventually I was turned 90 degrees on my side looking up. The slide was a partial burial with left arm, left side and left leg buried. I thought I was going under when the slide stopped right at my face. I thank God for saving me!

The slide started at 11,700 and was 100 meters wide. 125 meters long of debris in the west gully. 100 meters long of debris in the middle. 200 plus meters of debris in the east gully. Depth of slide (guessing) was 24 inches to over 36 inches. Depth of snow in area was over 36 inches with an undetermined bottom. Layer broke free from surface of the ground. Snow was variable wind swept on surface, soft and hard. Temperature around 20 degrees fahrenheit. Slide was broken into large chunks of debris.

While descending above slide, snow seemed stable. Ridgeline winds above slide were strong (plus 40 mph, coming from the west).