Laxgalts'ap Avalanche

Activity

Snowmobiling

Total in the group?

4

People fully buried?

0

People partly buried with impaired breathing?

0

People partly buried with normal breathing?

0

People not injured (caught but not buried)?

0

People injured (caught but not buried)?

0

People involved?

0

Terrain shape at trigger point

Convex

Snow depth at trigger point

Variable

Terrain traps

• Trees

While snowmobiling near Laxgalts'ap, we had been riding on either shoulder of the first large open slope in the area and had not observed any signs of recent avalanche activity. The gut of the slope had largely been avoided at the time of the slide but some tracks had been made through the runout zone.

We believe the avalanche was likely remotely triggered by one rider, accompanied by a buddy behind, who had moved into position to assess a potential descent on the north side of the slope, the right side shown in the photo. The snow was wind effected with the slope heavily loaded and we suspect the snowpack was thinner over the top, allowing us to get to a weak layer which likely created the settlement that triggered the slide. Note that this ultimately propagated a crown ~200m long towards the South.

A separate rider was observing from a safe zone several hundred meters beyond the runout to the North and called it out on the radio.

At the time of the avalanche, one rider was actively riding in the North edge of the runout zone while the other three remained outside of it. The rider within the runout zone was positioned in a location and direction that allowed them to avoid the slide without any issue.