Ghost Falls

Avalanche date/time

Thursday, February 8, 2018 at 12:00

Estimated occurrence time of avalanche

From 24 to 48 hours ago

Number of avalanches in this report

1

The size of avalanche

3

Avalanche Character

• Persistent slab

Trigger type

Natural

Start zone aspect

• W

Start zone elevation band

• Alpine

Runout zone elevation

1,500m

Observed significant avalanche debris on the approach to Ghost Falls. Debris filled the approach canyon to within about 100m above the second pitch of the climb (1650 m). Based on the height of new snow on top of the debris, the avalanche ran near the tail end of the last storm cycle. Every branch of the creek/canyon that we traveled had slid. We noted several mature trees in the debris. Based on a hasty look at the local foliage, it looks like the avalanche reached close to its historical runout. [Note: avalanche time is a best guess as this form will not submit without an exact time].

Also of note was a loose dry avalanche, size 1, triggered by solar input / tree bomb around at approximately 1400 hours, west aspect, 1870 m. This small gully feature is only about 25-30 degrees. The avalanche ran for approximately 30 m, was 20 cm thick and 2 m wide. Such a low slope angle producing a loose dry avalanche indicated a significant storm snow instability. We were glad that most of our terrain had been cleaned out already.