Observation: Public
Observation Details
Name:
MattObservation Date:
January 3, 2021Submitted:
January 3, 2021Zone or Region:
Stevens PassActivity:
Skiing/SnowboardingLocation:
Skyline, east slopesTriggered Avalanches
Did you trigger any avalanches?
YesWas it intentional?
YesAvalanche Type:
Soft SlabSize:
Size 2: Could bury, injure, or kill a personElevation:
5200, above lightly treed slopesAspect:
EComments:
Walked the top of the ridge, stepped on a cornice above a 45 degree+ slope. Propagated about 50’ wide and ran faster and further than expected. Crown 12-18” in this location. Further down the ridge we tested a small convexity with some serious stomping. Took a lot of jumps but it went bigger than expected. Crown close to 3’, wanted to propagate but just cracked. Ran 200’ before terrain shallowed. Assumed it ran on the Christmas rain event. Hard to say, close to ridge line and wind effect. Skied trees at lower angles, only reaction was sluffing at little rollovers. Many skier below ridgeline skiing trees were starting well within potential ridge line avalanches’ reach.Photo:
Signs of Unstable Snow
None reported
Observations
Snow was very deep, top 6” was much lighter than lower storm snow. Saw many troughs of avalanches that might have ran last night, lightly covered debris. At +/- 4500’ below steep and rocky terrain.
Media
