Avalanche Occurrence

View Associated Field Report

This very large avalanche was triggered by the failure of a massive cornice from above. The crown looks quite deep in places, this may have failed on October snow buried at the base of the snowpack.

Observer:

SAC Forecaster

Verified by SAC?

Yes

Occurrence Date:

Jan 6, 2022 (+/- 1 day)

Location:

Fishhook

# of Avys:

Aspect:

E (E,NE)

Start Zone Elev:

9600ft

Size:

D2.5

Trigger:

N-Natural

Weak Layer:

Dec 11, 2021 (FC) Dec 19, 2021 (FCsf) Jan 3, 2022 (MFcr)

Comments:

Hard to know what weak layers this collapsing cornice triggered, but based on varying crown depths and location it seems likely that it involved most of the prominent weak layers in our snowpack.

This large avalanche was triggered by the failure of a massive cornice from above. The crown looks quite deep in places, this may have failed on October snow buried at the base of the snowpack.