Avalanche: Hatcher Pass

Location: Independence Mine Area

Date:

November 11, 2018 5:00pm

Observer:

Taylor Crocker

Route & General Observations

I XC skied from the parking lot up the main trail around the mine building loop, then back to the parking lot. While skiing, I witness about 7-10 loose wet avalanches come off the ENE aspect of Skyscraper mountain. Each avalanche started on steep slopes (40°+).

Avalanche Details

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Trigger	Natural	Remote Trigger	0
Avalanche Type	Wet Loose Snow	Aspect	East Northeast
Elevation	4000ft	Slope Angle	unknown
Crown Depth	unknown	Width	unknown
Vertical Run	unknown

Avalanche Details

Rain, warm temps, and slope angles were the most likely triggers for these avalanches. I have added four pictures of the avalanches. Sorry about the poor resolution, it was getting dark and all I had was an iPhone.

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)?	No
Cracking (Shooting cracks)?	No

Observer Comments

Rain, 37-39° temps (Inversion), and recent snow

Weather & Snow Characteristics

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

Weather

Rain
37-39°F around mine
Snow the night prior

Snow surface

Completely saturated wet snow

Photos & Video

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Location

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