Avalanche: Hatcher Pass

Location: MicroDot Peak

Date:

November 1, 2017 3:00pm

Observer:

Ralph Baldwin

Route & General Observations

MicroDot Peak. Skinned up from Independence Bowl Parking Lot to lower south slope of MicroDot Peak and on up to picnic bench at 4200′. Six inches of powder on a supportable crust for most of the route. Observed old soft slab avalanches starting from 4800′ and running full length down SSW face to the looker’s right of Swimmin’ Tim run.

Avalanche Details

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Trigger	Natural	Remote Trigger	0
Avalanche Type	Soft Slab	Aspect	South Southwest
Elevation	4800ft	Slope Angle	45deg
Crown Depth	unknown	Width	100ft
Vertical Run	800ft

Avalanche Details

Soft slab. Loading form last storm. SS-NS-R4-D2.5-G

Red Flags

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Obvious signs of instability

Recent Avalanches?	Yes
Collapsing (Whumphing)?	No
Cracking (Shooting cracks)?	No

Observer Comments

Other than old avalanches, no signs of instability

Weather & Snow Characteristics

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Weather

Clear

Snow surface

4-6" old powder on supportable crust.

Snowpack

For the course of the tour, I skinned mostly through 4-6" old powder on a supportable crust. For the location of the pit, see attached image.

Photos & Video

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Soft slab releases on SSW face of MicroDot. Ran full length. SS-NS-R4-D2.5-G

Snowpit at 4100' south aspect of MicroDot Peak

SW aspect, Marmot Peak

Location

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