Observation: Public
Observation Details
Name:
Leslie MittendorfObservation Date:
January 14, 2023Submitted:
January 14, 2023Zone or Region:
East NorthActivity:
XC Skiing/SnowshoeingLocation:
Upper Mazama Valley- ENE flank of Driveway Butte, towards Jack's Trail on Methow Trail SystemObserved Avalanches
Did you observe any avalanches?
YesAvalanche Type:
Wet LooseSize:
Size 3: Could bury and destroy a car, damage a truck, destroy a wood frame house, or break a few treesElevation:
+3400 to 2200ftAspect:
NEComments:
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.
Signs of Unstable Snow
None reported
Observations
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.
Media
