Avalanche: Turnagain

Location: Tincan

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

Normal uptrack, a couple laps in hippy bowl and a lap down the skier’s right ridge.

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 No
Avalanche Type Soft SlabAspect Southwest
Elevation 2400ftSlope Angle 35deg
Crown Depth 18inWidth 35ft
Vertical Run 300ft  
Avalanche Details

First Photo:
Observed multiple naturals from mid and end of storm. Some larger slides looked like the ran mid-storm and were partially covered or had a smaller slide on top. Lots of point releases from the end of the storm. Almost all looked to be wind slabs on south-west aspects above 2500'. Most slides were running far but not deep or entraining much snow. At least one slide off the south side of Tincan (near the top of the normal uptrack) ran all the way to valley bottom.
Second Photo:
We skied the low angle ridge off the top, skier's right of the main bowl. 2/3 of the way down we stopped to assess accessing the main bowl. The ridge was obviously loaded on the south side with cornice in some places and rounded wind pillows in others. I stepped out to put in a ski cut at a spot without cornice and got a fast running sluff. I then took one more step and kicked off a sensitive wind slab. It was SS-ASc-D2-R1-I. The crown was up to 18 inches deep and approximately 35 feet wide. The skier's left side appeared to have more wind slab that would be reactive as well, so rather than ski the bed surface, I retreated and we skied the ridge.
Steeper test slopes on non-wind loaded areas produced light, fast running sluffs in the top 2-3 inches of new snow that were easy to manage.

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)?No
Cracking (Shooting cracks)?No
Photos & Video
Please upload photos below. Maximum of 5 megabytes per image. Click here for help on resizing images. If you are having trouble uploading please email images separately to staff.