Name:
Will Jones
Observation Date:
January 30, 2021
Submitted:
January 30, 2021
Zone or Region:
West North
Activity:
Skiing/Snowboarding
Location:
Bagley basin below Herman saddle
Did you trigger any avalanches?
Yes
Was it intentional?
No
Avalanche Type:
Soft Slab
Size:
Size 2: Could bury, injure, or kill a person
Elevation:
5100
Aspect:
SW
Comments:
Avalanche occurred while skinning up to Herman saddle from Bagley lake, while traversing west toward Herman saddle, below the Mazama col. Wind slab remotely triggered with the crown breaking 100 ft above me. The slide carried me 100 to 150 feet downhill and I was almost fully buried, with only my face and an arm exposed. I was exhumed by my two partners shortly afterward. There was considerable cross loading across the slope due to a wnw prevailing wind. The slab broke on a convex slope just beneath a small grove of trees below the Mazama col. The avalanche was an R1D2, as it was just a reactive pocket that blew, with a 12-inch crown. Shortly after I was unburied we heard another woomph and were concerned about additional remote triggering and moved out of avalanche terrain. This inhibited our ability to take pictures or further observations of the slide. Turns out the woomph was a remote triggered slab from the group behind us, breaking beneath the flat perch prior to the traverse toward Herman saddle. They reported a 1.5-ft to 2-ft crown. As we retreated back across the traverse we noticed the snow was materially more slabby than it was just 25 minutes prior and becoming reactive to hand shears.
Did you see shooting cracks?
Yes, Isolated
Did you experience collapsing or whumpfing?
Yes, Isolated