Avalanche: Hatcher Pass

Location: The Knob

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

Toured up to the Knob from Gold Mint. As clouds cleared, we saw lots of natural avalanches across the valley. See avalanche details for more info.

Avalanche Details
If this is an avalanche observation, click yes below and fill in the form as best as you can. If people were involved, please provide details.
Trigger SkierRemote Trigger Yes
Avalanche Type Soft SlabAspect Unknown
ElevationunknownSlope Angle 38deg
Crown Depth2ftWidth 200ft
Vertical Run 800ft  
Avalanche Details

Our party set out to check out the state of the new storm snow out of Gold Mint following the recent storm cycle. Touring up towards the Knob, upper snowpack was consistently heavy, wet over rounding facets and weak, soft snow below new storm snow. There were clear signs of wind transport in the recent storm snow with small cornices and wind deposits on north facing features. Choosing conservative terrain, we worked the southern ridge and began to traverse north to assess terrain adjacent to some of the steeper convexities on the Knob. While in the flats, we felt a whumph and decided to nudge towards a low-angle top out. From here, the lead trailbreaker felt a whumph and then saw large, wet rollerballs moving down hill at approximately 250 meters to the north. We toured up to observe the remote-triggered At this time, a small break in the clouds was allowing enough light to come through what was otherwise an overcast day to see the avalanche path better and take some photos.

We also observed several natural avalanches across the road from the Knob. See photos. Throughout our tour, hand shears and pole probing revealed a snowpack that is very upside down. With warm temperatures and this setup, conservative terrain selection remains the name of the game.

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)?Yes
Cracking (Shooting cracks)?No
Weather & Snow Characteristics
Please provide details to help us determine the weather and snowpack during the time this observation took place.
Weather

Overcast, light snow at 1800, trended towards a break with some solar input at 1830.

Snow surface

Wet, heavy new storm snow, 20-30"

Snowpack

Easy hand shears, had some whumphing in isolated spots along route.

Photos & Video
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