Observation: Public
Observation Details
Name:
PHILIPPE LE MOUELObservation Date:
December 11, 2022Submitted:
December 11, 2022Zone or Region:
OlympicsActivity:
Skiing/SnowboardingLocation:
Hurricane RidgeObserved Avalanches
Did you observe any avalanches?
YesAvalanche Type:
Soft SlabSize:
Size 2: Could bury, injure, or kill a personElevation:
5200ftAspect:
NWComments:
A skier triggered the avalanche from a milder slope above, which was connected to the problem slope. The crack propagated over quite a large distance and enough snow was released to bury or injure a skier. Some of the snow piled quite deep in front of trees along the avalanche path, which could have been a serious situation for any body caught in those spots. Fortunately the slab wasn't too deep at most 1ft at the deepest points.Signs of Unstable Snow
Did you see shooting cracks?
Yes, IsolatedDid you experience collapsing or whumpfing?
NoObservations
There is a thin layer of surface hoar that is buried (less than a foot deep) in some locations with potentially wind slab or storm slab on top of it. This creates a very unstable situation with observed avalanche and shooting cracks in those locations. It seems that W/NW aspects are more affected. I didn't find that same problem on South facing slopes. My snow pit on a south facing slope didn't reveal any major instability, but that could just be because the surface hoar got blown away in that particular location.
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