Silvern Lakes, Very close call

Quick report

Weather

sunny

Ride Type

mellowSlopes, openTrees

Riding Quality

good

Snow Conditions

powder

Avalanche Conditions

avalancheConditionSlab

Weather

Avg Temp

-9

Wind Speed

windSpeedLight

Blowing Snow

none

Sky Condition

fewClouds

Temperature Trend

steady

Precipitation Type

none

It was a beautiful sunny day.

Avalanche

Run Length

150

Slab Width

200

Trigger Type

snowmobile

Avalanche Size

2

Slab Thickness

80

Trigger Sub Type

remote

Start Zone Aspect

NW

Trigger Distance

30

Vegetation Cover

sparseTrees

Avalanche Character

deepPersistentSlab, stormSlab, windSlab

Number Of Avalanches

1

Avalanche Observation

12hrsAgo

Weak Layer Crystal Type

depthHoar, stormSnow

Start Zone Elevation Band

tln

Avalanche Occurrence Datetime

2026-02-28T19:30:00.000Z

Incident

Group Size

4

Terrain Trap

trees

Group Activity

snowmobiling

Number Involved

1

Snow Depth Trigger Point

deep

Terrain Shape Trigger Point

concave

Number Partly Buried Able Breathing

1

I was riding at Silvern Lakes, snow was great, we didn’t see any signs of instability all morning. I decided to do a small pull up this slope, made it just above the group of trees no issues, threw my sled on its side and started side hilling just above the trees. That’s when it hit me, I did not see it, I did not hear it, just got hit by a Tsunami of snow. I was immediately thrown from my sled and under the snow getting put through a washing machine, filtered through a few small trees which resulted in broken goggles and slightly busted helmet, but I did not get hung up thankfully. As I felt myself slowing down I just punched my arms up above my head and luckily I was just below the surface and was able to dig myself out. With the amount of snow that came down on this small slope and the trees that had a couple meters of debris piled up on them after, safe to say I was lucky to walk away from this one.