Rudi's Double Rip
Observed Mar 8, 2026, 1:30 p.m. PDT · Purcells
This report was submitted with an older form.
Quick report
- Comment
- 17+ cm of new snow today in the slack. Felt like a lot more. Wind was howling westerly on the ridge tops. Released two wind slabs in Brazillian Rudi's N. South aspect of Rudi looked amazing. Lots of traffic. Keep those North aspect chutes in mind if you head out into the slack 03/09
- Weather
- Cloudy, Cold, Foggy
- Ride type
- Alpine slopes
- Riding quality
- Good
- Snow conditions
- Deep powder, Wind affected
Avalanche report
- Comment
- Dropped in Brazillian on Rudi's North. Wind was howling, predominantly westerly, but drafting up the chute. First skier dropped in to cut up the snow, found it to be largely wind-affected on the eastern side, deep snow in the middle and then wind-compacted on the western side. He stopped at a safe location half way down as the regroup spot. I followed and upon reaching him released a table-size wind slab (~20+ cm thick) under my feet. We decided to both ride out before the rest of group drops in to meet. Great call Michael. He descended first and popped a slab (sz 1) on the western lip (east aspect), immediately dipped out skier's right and rode out to safety. I followed, cutting more skier' right to avoid releasing anything where his popped. The lower fan rode very well and was quite deep with the new snow today. A little wind-affected. We radioed this info up to the group and told the third skier to drop in. He cut a line to the western side above where I was just parked and released a smaller slide (sz 0.5-1) that carried him for 20 ft before leaving him behind. All good except a spook and face full of snow. Rest of the group descended carefully and safely.
- Trigger type
- Skier
- Wind exposure
- Lee slope
- Avalanche size
- 1.5
- Trigger sub type
- Accidental
- Start zone aspect
- N, NE
- Start zone incline
- 35
- Avalanche character
- Wind slab
- Number of avalanches
- 2-5
- Start zone elevation
- 2300
- Runout zone elevation
- 2189
- Avalanche observation
- 12hrsAgo
- Start zone elevation band
- Alp
- Avalanche occurrence datetime
- 2026-03-08T20:30:00.000Z
Snowpack report
- Depth
- 20
- Obs type
- Summary
- Site aspect
- N, NW, W
- Cracking observed
- Yes
- Site elevation band
- Alp
- Surface conditions
- New snow
Weather report
- Wind speed
- Wind speed strong
- Blowing snow
- Light
- Sky condition
- Broken clouds
- Wind direction
- W
- Precipitation type
- Snow
Incident report
- Group size
- 7
- Description
- Double wind slab on Rudi’s North, Brazillian. First skier released the slab on the eastern aspect after descending most of the chute. Third skier who cut a line above where I previously stopped releasing the second slide; size 0.5-1 that carried him 20ft. No injury. Just a face full of fresh. (More detail in the avalanche tab of this MIN)
- Terrain trap
- Slope transition or bench
- Group activity
- Skiing
- Number involved
- 1
- Number caught only
- 1
- Number fully buried
- 0
- Terrain shape trigger point
- Concave