Northwest Avalanche Center

Observation: Public

All Observations

Observation Details

Name:
Porter
Observation Date:
April 12, 2023
Submitted:
April 12, 2023
Zone or Region:
West Central
Activity:
Skiing/Snowboarding
Location:
Mt Pugh

Triggered Avalanches

Did you trigger any avalanches? 
Yes
Was it intentional? 
Yes
Avalanche Type:
Soft Slab
Size:
Size 1: Relatively harmless to people
Elevation:
6,100ft
Aspect:
N
Comments:
We saw widespread avalanches that were easy to trigger on East, North, and West aspects. All were about a foot deep, very easy to trigger, and tended to propagate fairly wide.

Signs of Unstable Snow

Did you see shooting cracks? 
Yes, Widespread
Did you experience collapsing or whumpfing? 
No

Observations

While skinning up the ridge on Mt Pugh we triggered several storm slabs that had bonded poorly to the crust below (10-12inches deep). We saw these running on all aspects except south though I wouldn’t be surprised if south’s have a similar issue. We didn’t look at the grain type at the interface but it seemed like it was a weak grain (stellar or graupel) that fell at the beginning of the storm. The slabs were present below ridge lines, and would trigger and run at surprisingly low angles.

Media

Public Field Report: Mt Pugh
Public Field Report: Mt Pugh
Public Field Report: Mt Pugh
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