Adirondack CommunityAvalanche Project

Triggered Avalanche

Type: Other

D2: Could bury, injure, or kill a person.

Triggered in a 20ft wide section of trees, Ran multiple pitches gaining in size. Over 200ft in width at debris pile

Observation Details

West facing aspect 3400 ft. Heavy snowfall the evening prior in the high peaks 15-20 inches of light dry snow. Fresh snowfall and an icy faceted base layer led to a large skier triggered avalanche. The first 3/4 of the slide skied well with mixed layers of powder and icy bed surface that had yet to be covered, showing minimal signs of instability. Approaching the pitch in question my partner and I discussed the potential for heightened avalanche risk as the pitch increased rapidly. Moving tightly to the trees a ski cut was done before entering the next open slide section, upon that ski cut the entire slope released below. The slide ran roughly 400-500 vert through two clusters of trees before sliding over a cliff at the end of the line. Easily large enough to carry a human into a terrain trap or worse