Observation: Public
Observation Details
Name:
Chet KaufmanObservation Date:
February 18, 2023Submitted:
February 19, 2023Zone or Region:
Snoqualmie PassActivity:
Skiing/SnowboardingLocation:
North Slope Chair PeakTriggered Avalanches
Did you trigger any avalanches?
YesWas it intentional?
NoAvalanche Type:
Soft SlabSize:
Size 2: Could bury, injure, or kill a personElevation:
5200Aspect:
NComments:
About 6” soft slab that was about 20 yards wide and traveled about 40 yards down the hill, gaining depth.Signs of Unstable Snow
Observations
Our group was skiing the North Slope Chair Peak, skiing 1 at a time to watch each other and doing line rotation to avoid grouping up. One of our group skied a rollover that already had tracks on it, but she fell while skiing it and that triggered the avalanche. She was swept downhill about 30 yards and was buried for the last 10 yards or so before the avalanche stopped moving. I was able to keep eyes on her rough position the entire time, skied down to about 5-10 yards from where I thought she was, and could hear her calling. I skied over and could see the top of her helmet just showing through the snow, so dug her head and face out immediately to clear her airway. Then another friend and I dug her out the rest of the way. No injuries thank God, but definitely scary. Our group did some debriefing afterwards and have a few lessons learned to hopefully never have this happen again.