| Trigger | Skier | Remote Trigger | Yes |
| Avalanche Type | Hard Slab | Aspect | West |
| Elevation | 3400ft | Slope Angle | 42deg |
| Crown Depth | 24in | Width | 80ft |
| Vertical Run | 40ft |
Avalanche: Hatcher Pass
Location: lower microdot
Went for a short tour below microdot, it was very windy. We saw recent avalanches, had lots of collapsing, and large shooting cracks. The wind has taken its toll at the upper elevations.
Avalanche Details
While putting in a skin track we remote triggered two avalanches. The first avalanche was D1 in size and traveled maybe 35'. the second avalanche was D2 in size and failed 200' feet away from the first avalanche. It seems like they happened at the same time. The crown at the larger avalanche was up to 3' deep in places. A good reminder that an avalanche on even small terrain features can have dangerous consequences.
Obvious signs of instability
| Recent Avalanches? | Yes |
| Collapsing (Whumphing)? | Yes |
| Cracking (Shooting cracks)? | Yes |
Observer Comments
Really big shooting cracks, some traveled at least 200'. Lots of large collapsing, you could feel the whole snowpack drop a couple centimeters at times. Strong too extreme winds were transporting snow very quickly. A natural avalanche near ridge top could be observed on the up-track for the Ray Wallace chutes.
Weather
independence mine parking lot 10:30am 27°F overcast, S-1, Moderate East wind.
Very strong winds reduced visibility to almost zero at times. Flagging and plumes on ridge tops was quite impressive.
Snow surface
The snow surface was a mixed bag today, 1F hard wind slab in some areas, 4F snow in others. At times when breaking trail the snow was at least 3' deep. in some areas the wind had eroded the snowpack down to the basal facets from October.
Snowpack
We dug pits in two locations. one was a quick crown profile on a remote triggered avalanche. The other pit targeted the basal facets to see how they adjusted to the new load(see photo below). The snowpack has poor structure, low strength, and very high propagation potential.
Above the sledding hill,
Crown profile
3400' W aspect 42°
HS 130
ECTP1 @ 35cm 1F wind slab
3600' W aspect 15°
HS 65
ECTN4 5cm from surface, 4F wind slab
ECTP14 15cm from ground basal facets
ECTP13 15cm from ground, basal facets
PST 40/100 End on basal facets
Second pit in the flats below microdot
cross loading on Eldorado
thousand dollar run looking quite bare in places
Large remote triggered avalanche 3400'
Close up on debris from remote triggered avalanche. Debris was 1.5' deep in places