| Trigger | Skier | Remote Trigger | Yes |
| Avalanche Type | Soft Slab | Aspect | South |
| Elevation | 4400ft | Slope Angle | 38deg |
| Crown Depth | 20in | Width | 150ft |
| Vertical Run | 700ft |
Avalanche: Hatcher Pass
Location: MicroDot South Face; Swimmin' Tims
JK’s birthday tour. Started at IM lot and took standard route to MicroDot sub ridge above Nosebleed and Swimmin’ Tims. We did two runs on Swimmin’ Tims and exited via MicroDot Dot. Good creamy pow skiing. Poor visibility.
Avalanche Details
On our group's second run on Swimmin' Tims we started from slightly higher up on the ridge. The first skier entered the run skiers left of previous tracks and remotely triggered a persistent slab avalanche that initiated about 20 feet down slope. The avalanche ran to valley floor. No one caught or carried. Ski tracks and "safe transition zone" from previous run were not entrained. Probed debris depth was 145cm although we might have not found the deepest spot.
See above details. See attached pictures.
20220123~0130: SS-ASur-R3-D1.5-O
Obvious signs of instability
| Recent Avalanches? | Yes |
| Collapsing (Whumphing)? | Yes |
| Cracking (Shooting cracks)? | Yes |
Observer Comments
There was a recent size D1 wind slab avalanche on a slope that had similar slope angle, aspect, and elevation to the slope in which the avalanche occurred. We experienced one or two "whumps" and some localized cracking in wind load terrain on the tour up.
Weather
HPAC Weather Page: https://hpavalanche.org/weather/
Marmot Weather Station: http://www.cnfaic.org/wx/wx_site.php?site=marmot
See also: Independence Mine Snowtel
There was recent warm storm that added 0.8 SWE to the snowpack. This storm had associated S/SE winds from 10-35mph.
During the tour temperatures were pleasantly warm with unpleasantly flat light. SE winds were transporting snow off the high peaks throughout the day; we were mostly protected from wind in our location.
Snow surface
Creamy Pow! We did not feel the Christmas Crusts when skiing. On the approach there were areas scoured down to the Christmas Crusts.
Snowpack
Informal hand shears and ski cuts revealed relatively shallow wind slab with weak to moderate adhesion strength to the crusts below. No formal pits were performed today. Known widespread persistent slab problem with propogating results in recent test pits.
Wind slab steps down to persistent slab
Remote trigger persistent slab
cracking and flagging