Snowmobile Triggered Avalanche
Observed Mar 9, 2026, 9:00 p.m. PDT · Southwest Coast
This report was submitted with an older form.
Avalanche report
- Comment
- # Avalanche Incident Report ## Bralone Area - "The Books" | March 9, 2026 --- On the afternoon of March 9, 2026, a group of seven snowmobilers were riding in the Bralone backcountry near a feature known as "The Books." At approximately 4:30 PM, while traversing a northwest-facing slope, one of the riders triggered a size 2.5 avalanche. The slide appeared to be a wind slab that released on an underlying crust layer—a common weak layer interface that had been building in the area. The avalanche ran with enough force to catch one member of the group, carrying him downslope and burying him up to his neck in debris. Fortunately, the buried rider's head remained above the snow surface. This outcome was likely due to his avalanche airbag, which he had deployed during the slide. The remaining six members of the group responded immediately, and dug out their companion and extracted his snowmobile from the debris. The buried rider sustained no injuries. The entire group exited the area without further incident.
- Run length
- 300
- Slab width
- 64
- Trigger type
- Snowmobile
- Wind exposure
- Cross loaded slope
- Avalanche size
- 2.5
- Slab thickness
- 70
- Trigger sub type
- Accidental
- Start zone aspect
- NW
- Vegetation cover
- Open slope
- Start zone incline
- 31
- Avalanche character
- Persistent slab, Wind slab
- Number of avalanches
- 1
- Start zone elevation
- 2100
- Runout zone elevation
- 1795
- Avalanche observation
- 12hrsAgo
- Start zone elevation band
- Alp
- Avalanche occurrence datetime
- 2026-03-09T11:28:00.000Z