not the ride he wanted

Avalanche date/time

Sunday, March 4, 2018 at 17:12

Estimated occurrence time of avalanche

Less than 12 hours ago

Number of avalanches in this report

1

The size of avalanche

1.5

Slab thickness

80cm

Slab width

60m

Run length

200m

Avalanche Character

• Persistent slab

Trigger type

Skier

Trigger subtype

Accidental

Start zone aspect

• N

Start zone elevation band

• Treeline

Start zone elevation

2,100m

Start zone incline

40°

Runout zone elevation

1,900m

Weak layer burial date

Friday, February 23, 2018

Weak layer crystal type

• Surface hoar

Crust near weak layer

No

Wind exposure

Down flow

Vegetation cover

Sparse trees or gladed slope

An unfortunate incident in the Rossland Range.

Observed recent natural avalanche activity on a similar aspect and slope. Dug a pit on our way up, thinking it was representative terrain, with hard, resistant results on Feb 23 surface hoar layer. Based on this, we decided to ski our objective. First skier triggered a sz 1.5 on very steep terrain and went for a ride. Luckily he was uninjured.

Significant contributors:

- terrain we ski often

- objective driven group

- encouraging snow observations (pit)

Things we missed (or should have respected more)

- more local snowfall than the avi forecast

- nearby signs of recent avalanches