Sawtooth Avalanche Center

Avalanche Occurrence

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General Information

This large avalanche was remotely triggered by skiers on the low angle ridge above in the Banner Summit area. It failed 2+ feet deep, 1,000' wide, and ran downslope nearly 1,000' to the end of its historic runout, putting debris in the creek bottom below. It failed on a NE-facing slope at 8,000' on a 2-3cm thick melt-freeze crusts with facets on top.

Observer:
SAC Forecaster

Verified by SAC?
Yes

Occurrence Date:
Apr 2, 2023 4:31 pm (Exact)

Location:
Bear Creek

Comments:

This avalanche was remotely triggered by skiers walking on the adjacent low angle ridge. The skiers were 5m from the slope that avalanched.

Avalanche Characteristics

# of Avys:
1
Aspect:
NE
Start Zone Elev:
8000ft
Size:
D2.5
Type:
SS-Soft Slab
Trigger:
AS-Skier
r-Remote
Bed Surface:
O-Old Snow
Depth:
2ft
Width:
980ft
Weak Layer:
Mar 19, 2023 (FC)
Comments:

This avalanche failed on a 2-3cm thick aerated crust with facets on top. This crust may have formed from combination of ambient and direct solar and warm ambient temperatures. It is unknown how widespread this crust is.

Media

This large avalanche was remotely triggered by skiers on the low angle ridge above in the Banner Summit area. It failed 2+ feet deep, 1,000' wide, and ran downslope nearly 1,000' to the end of its historic runout, putting debris in the creek bottom below. It failed on a NE-facing slope at 8,000' on a 2-3cm thick melt-freeze crusts with facets on top.

Attachments

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