There’s still avalanches out there

Quick report

joanna.waterston · Feb 17, 2025 · Dogtooth

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Quick report

Weather
cloudy, sunny
Ride Type
alpineSlopes, steepSlopes
Riding Quality
amazing
Snow Conditions
powder
Avalanche Conditions
avalancheConditionSlab, avalancheConditionSound

Party of three headed into 12mile for the day. As we were travelling to an alpine saddle we felt a large whumph, cracking around the first skier was observed (5m by 5m). The slope was about 30 degrees. We backed off and skied down. We opted to ski another slope closer to tree line, in a more sheltered area. No signs of instability were noted as we were gaining the ridge, or along the ridge. The first and second skier descended the slope, skiing great powder top to bottom. The third skier dropped in from a different entry point, kicking off a small (size 1, 30-40 deep) slab near a rocky area. This slab entrained an impressive amount of mass and speed as it moved downhill. The resulting avalanche was a size 2, running 2/3 path. No involvement. Suspected release on FC layer buried after last storm (Jan 30).

Avalanche

Run Length
200
Slab Width
40
Trigger Type
skier
Wind Exposure
leeSlope
Avalanche Size
2
Slab Thickness
30
Trigger Sub Type
accidental
Start Zone Aspect
N
Vegetation Cover
openSlope
Start Zone Incline
35
Avalanche Character
persistentSlab
Number Of Avalanches
1
Start Zone Elevation
2350
Runout Zone Elevation
2200
Weak Layer Burial Date
2025-01-30
Avalanche Observation
12to24hrsAgo
Weak Layer Crystal Type
facets
Start Zone Elevation Band
alp
Avalanche Occurrence Datetime
2025-02-17T09:30:00.000Z

See quick report.