Trigger | Skier | Remote Trigger | No |
Avalanche Type | Wet Loose Snow | Aspect | Southwest |
Elevation | 4000ft | Slope Angle | 35deg |
Crown Depth | 5in | Width | 30ft |
Vertical Run | 400ft |
Toured up Little O’Malley gully & traversed the ridge toward False Peak. 5-6 inches of new, light snow that was not bonding with the firm layer beneath in various spots. Solar radiation was increasingly affecting the snowpack as the day went on, the snow growing stickier and heavier as we neared our drop-in point. On the approach, we could see some natural point releases coming off the top of False Peak. At approximately 2:30pm I triggered a small slide from the notch on the W shoulder.
Trigger | Skier | Remote Trigger | No |
Avalanche Type | Wet Loose Snow | Aspect | Southwest |
Elevation | 4000ft | Slope Angle | 35deg |
Crown Depth | 5in | Width | 30ft |
Vertical Run | 400ft |
At approximately 2:30pm, we dropped into the False Peak bowl from the notch on the W shoulder. One of my partners went first, taking a conservative traversing line skier's right out of the notch, noting that he was kicking off some minor wet slough. I dropped in second, following the fall line more directly. I made a few turns and at approximately 4000 ft, triggered a D1 slide that propagated 30 feet across, running 400 vertical feet down the fall line into the bowl. The crown was approximately 5 inches deep--storm snow only. After triggering the slide, I made a turn out of the fall line and was not caught or carried. I pulled over on a high point and turned around to see the slide traveling fairly slowly down the gut, stopping at approximately 3600 ft. We skied the rest of the bowl & out into the meadow without further incident.
Recent Avalanches? | Yes |
Collapsing (Whumphing)? | No |
Cracking (Shooting cracks)? | No |
Small point releases coming off of False Peak
New snow