Vermillion Peak - avalanche control

Avalanche date/time

Monday, February 13, 2017 at 16:30

Number of avalanches in this report

1

The size of avalanche

3

Slab width

250m

Run length

1,450m

Avalanche Character

• Deep persistent slab

Trigger type

Explosives

Start zone aspect

• NW

Start zone elevation band

• Alpine

Start zone elevation

2,200m

Runout zone elevation

1,400m

We did avalanche control on a single avalanche path on Vermillion Peak today (Kootenay National Park). From two explosives, the entire start zone ripped side to side (250 m wide) and ran to the road (1450 m distance). Looked like it ran on a deeper layer of facets. The highway was protected from significant debris because of a berm. The debris was full of wood, as the avalanche carved off some old burnt trees from the side of the path.

We are sharing this because it is immediately adjacent to the popular ski run (in an avalanche path) on Vermillion Peak, which is almost certainly ripe for a similar event.

We also got size 2's and 3's above the Sunshine Village road today. Spicy out there.