Northwest Avalanche Center - Public Observation

Name:

Leslie Mittendorf

Observation Date:

January 14, 2023

Submitted:

January 14, 2023

Zone or Region:

East North

Activity:

XC Skiing/Snowshoeing

Location:

Upper Mazama Valley- ENE flank of Driveway Butte, towards Jack's Trail on Methow Trail System

Did you observe any avalanches?

Yes

Comments:

NE flanks of Driveway Butte - starting zones not visible because of clouds- ran within 100 - 500m of Jack's Trail.
Some debris included timber, and large boulder sized snowballs evident at fan.
Very limited visibility, but width appeared to be from 20m wide to greater than 100m- though that could have been more than one slide coming down.
In several cases, untouched snow adjacent to the slide area had distinct rivulets.
There were multiple debris paths from different slides.
Depth estimates from this distance, with lack of visibility, were difficult.
At least one slide was D3; others smaller.
11:03 am when we saw the first; 12:15ish when we heard the last.

None reported

Several considerable fans and debris piles visible on the lower flanks of Driveway Butte where Jack's Trail runs. The cliffs above are often steep, there are burn scars, and intact forest as well. It wasn't often possible to see the starting zone, due to super low visibility and clouds. Weather was 33-34F and raining to light drizzle. In addition to the 5+ fans we saw, we heard two significant avalanches, with obvious snapping timber. In the places closest to the trail, debris stopped 50m away from trail, most further than that.

We did not see any of the avalanches happen and we were on the other side of the meadow when we heard the other two.
Do not have photos of all of the slides.