Alex nailed it today in his forecast and discussion.
If you don’t hear from the couple in the avalanche on Sugar Ridge, I’ll present
what I saw. There was an avalanche on the knob at the top of the trees along
the ridge, this would be on the north side facing Manitoba Mountain. This knob
often has a cornice. The person in the front was buried up to his knees (West
side of flank), the person in the back was pushed into the trees and needed
assistance getting out (east side flank). The person in the front was skiing on
a low angle slope triggering the avalanche higher and steeper on the slope. No
injuries, just some filled pants.
The crown was about 18 inches on the west side. There was a jumbled up mess on
the west side away from the trees, but in the trees it just piled up. because
of the low angle near the trees snow just piled up and didn’t run very far. I
would guestimate the crown was about 100 yards wide and it “ran” about a
hundred yards.
temps around freezing, sometimes the wind gusted to transport the snow but
generally quiet. Snowing at times but clearing as the day went on. Lots of
standing water on the road between bird and the Welcome to Kenai sign which
slowed travel. Kudos to DOT for their road work and great call by Alex on the
conditions.
