Avalanche: Hatcher Pass

Location: Microdot

Date:

March 5, 2023 6:35pm

Observer:

Tony Naciuk

Route & General Observations

Very hot on south aspects, surface snow got very wet. Sun induced wet loose and slab avalanches occurred on the southern face above Gold Chord Lake while we were there. Good snow on the north face. Temps felt above freezing in the sun, and well below in the shade.

Contact, Location & General Observations

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Forecaster Comments

There was a significant inversion today with highs reported of 33degF at 3pm on Marmot 4500' and 40degF at Goldchord 4050'.
From NWS: The temperature inversion will strengthen through Monday which
will bring above freezing temperatures between roughly 2000 to
6000 feet with maximum warming around 3500 ft.

Avalanche Details

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Trigger	Natural	Remote Trigger	No
Avalanche Type	Wet Slab	Aspect	South
Elevation	4600ft	Slope Angle	47deg
Crown Depth	10in	Width	80ft
Vertical Run	500ft

Avalanche Details

At 1:52 PM, heard rumbling noise from Microdot north face. Turned & saw a wet loose avalanche running down the main chute above Gold Chord Lake. Did not see it release, but there appeared to be a new crown line at the top around rock bands. There were a couple other wet loose slides releasing from adjacent rock bands.

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20230305_135300

Location

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