Avalanche: Hatcher Pass

Location: Hatch Peak, $1000 Run, Marmot

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

Toured up the Fishhook-Wasilla Road to approach Hatch Peak from the northwest ridge between April Bowl and $1000 run twice on December 9th, 2018.

Avalanche Details
If this is an avalanche observation, click yes below and fill in the form as best as you can. If people were involved, please provide details.
Trigger SkierRemote Trigger0
Avalanche Type UnknownAspect North Northeast
ElevationunknownSlope Angleunknown
Crown Depth3ftWidth 200ft
Vertical Rununknown  
Avalanche Details

We observed two slides on the West side of Marmot Peak as we were approaching Hatch Peak for the second time. The first slide was surprisingly slow moving and appeared to be remotely triggered by a group of people standing on top of the Marmot ridge. The second slide appeared to have been skier triggered as there were ski tracks leading into the slide path.

We also observed a skier who appeared to be solo also descend the West face of Marmot but we did not observe any triggered avalanches with his/her descent.

We observed point release/sluff slides in the Skyscraper area.

We heard collapsing in the bowl/low-angle terrain in the $1000/North face of Hatch Peak area.

We observed snow transport/wind loading from west to east. Snow appeared to be transporting from the April Bowl area (west of Hatch Peak), which was wind scoured and had a somewhat recent avalanche in it.

As we approached the northernmost subpeak of Hatch Peak, we saw the crown and very recent avalanche (within 10 mins) on the $1000 run proper. We descended to the rescue party who informed us that one person had been buried in the slide except for one arm exposed. His partner conducted companion rescue and no gear was lost or injuries reported. We stayed with the group involved in the avalanche and all of us skied out one-by-one together to mitigate risk of hang-fire and further incidences.

See photo: Persistent slab on the red run appeared to have been triggered by a skier on the blue run. Slab was triggered after atleast 10-12 skiers had skied the blue run. All of the tracks in this area were on the blue run-- no tracks leading down the red run.

Red Flags
Red flags are simple visual clues that are a sign of potential avalanche danger. Please record any sign of red flags below.
Obvious signs of instability
Recent Avalanches?Yes
Collapsing (Whumphing)?Yes
Cracking (Shooting cracks)?No
Observer Comments

See avalanche details section.

Weather & Snow Characteristics
Please provide details to help us determine the weather and snowpack during the time this observation took place.
Weather

20ish degrees, snowing until around noon. Noticeable wind-- enough to transport snow. Skies then cleared to reveal recent avalanche activity.

Snow surface

Very low density snow! Moderate wind-affect on the NW ridge of Hatch Peak but not severe.

Snowpack

No pit information.

Photos & Video
Please upload photos below. Maximum of 5 megabytes per image. Click here for help on resizing images. If you are having trouble uploading please email images separately to staff.