Avalanche Occurrence

Snowmobilers triggered this avalanche Friday afternoon after several riders had ridden up and down the slope for 15-30 minutes. The crown is 2-3 feet thick, and the slide was 100-150 feet wide. N aspect near 9000' in the Vienna area west of Smiley Creek.

Observer:

Public

Verified by SAC?

Yes

Occurrence Date:

Apr 15, 2022 2:00 pm (Exact)

Location:

Western Smoky Mtns: W Fork Big Smoky Ck

# of Avys:

Aspect:

Start Zone Elev:

9200ft

Size:

Type:

SS-Soft Slab

Trigger:

AM-Snowmobile
u-Unintentional

Bed Surface:

O-Old Snow

Depth:

2.5ft

Width:

130ft

Weak Layer:

Apr 10, 2022 (FC)

Comments:

Unsure on the exact location, aspect, and elevation. The published data is fairly accurate. Based on the characteristics and similar activity occurring on the same day, we are calling this a persistent slab avalanche that likely failed on facets or a facet+crust combo buried below the storm snow from the past week. From the observers' report: "We were playing on a 200-300 yard north-facing steeper area with a large runout and triggered an avalanche. Multiple people had been riding up and down the slope for 15-30 minutes. It was around 2:00 and the snow was heavier in this area. We did not go up to the crown, but it appears to have broken deeper below multiple storm layers. We did not see any other avalanche activity. The crown was approximately 100-150’ wide and looked to be 2-3’ deep and ran out 100-150 yards." 4/10 weak layer strongly suspected.