| Trigger | Skier | Remote Trigger | No |
| Avalanche Type | Soft Slab | Aspect | Southwest |
| Elevation | 4800ft | Slope Angle | 40deg |
| Crown Depth | 24in | Width | 40ft |
| Vertical Run | 250ft |
Avalanche: Hatcher Pass
Location: Friendship Pass
Toured up Gold Cord drainage towards Friendship Pass. Began ascending the apron below Gold Cord Peak’s two intersecting couloirs.
Near Miss / Accident Details
| Number Caught/Carried? | 1 | Number Partially Buried? | 1 |
| Number Fully Buried? | 0 | Number Injured? | 0 |
| Number Fatalities? | 0 |
Avalanche Details
Avalanche released at feet of skier while touring below cliffs, at the top of a steep, windloaded slope. Skier was entrained and carried 150 feet downslope, buried waist-deep, but able to free themself after debris had stopped moving. Avalanche slid on old wind-sculpted surface from the major wind event. There appears to be a layer of loose, low density snow sitting on top of this old wind-sculpted surface, with denser snow from recent storms above it.
Events of the day
The human factor was a major contributor to this incident. Even though little was known about the snowpack, confidence was gained from watching others ski steep, windloaded faces. The skier who was caught was on high alert for shallow wind slabs, but failed to account for the possibility of slabs sliding on the deeper old/new interface.
Looking up at crown from debris field.
View of avalanche from valley bottom.