Avalanche Incident South Douglas

Activity

Snowmobiling

Total in the group?

6

People fully buried?

1

People partly buried with normal breathing?

0

People not injured (caught but not buried)?

0

People injured (caught but not buried)?

0

People involved?

1

Terrain shape at trigger point

Convex

Snow depth at trigger point

Deep

Terrain traps

• Gully or depression
• Slope transition or bench
• Trees

Avalanche incident South Douglas March 26, 2017

At approximately 1100 hours our group of 3 was approaching “the chute” on the way to the alpine traverse for access to South Douglas snowmobile riding area. We were aware that there was a group of 2 riders and a lone rider ahead of us. Just before crossing the creek we met one rider who told us that him and his companion had witnessed the lone rider enter a gully climbing to the left of the usual up route and then an avalanche release above the rider. The witness said his companion had instructed him to stay in a safe spot while he entered the deposit to assess the situation. Our group of 3 and the witness then proceeded to the bottom of the gully and the deposit. There was some brief dialogue before all turning our beacons to search. The last seen point was at the bottom of the gully. We began a beacon search up the gully. At a point near where the subject was eventually found one searcher reported picking up a signal at a distance of 40m. He lost the signal shortly thereafter and other electronic devices may have cause interference. 2 searchers were about 100m up the gully with the other three slightly behind, when someone said they had seen the missing rider was not wearing a pack and they weren’t sure if he had a beacon. Another short conversation between searchers took place and we began random probe searching in the likely burial spots. After several random probes one searcher reported “ I have something here”. He said it was at a depth of 190cm. The searcher confirmed with more probing. We began to dig and uncovered a gloved hand. Shortly after that the subject’s head and face were exposed. He was blue and had a small amount of blood was around his mouth, he was not wearing a helmet. Signs of life were evident (although initially breathing was shallow and irregular) and we continued to remove snow from around him. Gradually he opened his eyes and began to look around. When he could speak we helped him to stand. Another group of 4 riders helped us dig the subject’s snowmobile out. It was buried beside him at a depth over 2m. The subject was able to ride out.

Visibility intermittent, but between site obs and google earth these are the details.

-size 3 avalanche

-crown approximately 100m wide by at least 2m deep

-avalanche ran 250m vertical and at least twice that in slope distance

-deposit was at least 250m long and 10-20m wide and piled up deeply in the gully.

-orange line is crown, blue polygon deposit, red line is usual route.