Public Observation
Observation Details
Observation Date:
December 18, 2022Submitted:
December 19, 2022Zone or Region:
Tamarack Out of BoundsActivity:
Skiing/SnowboardingLocation:
Full Moon Bowl, Center ChutesTriggered Avalanches
Did you trigger any avalanches?
YesWas it intentional?
NoAvalanche Type:
Dry Loose (Sluff)Size:
Size 1: Relatively harmless to peopleElevation:
7100'Aspect:
EComments:
A dry loose avalanche was triggered by one of our party when he started skiing down a steep chute, approx. location 44°41'47.7"N 116°09'30.6"W (Tamarack out-of-bounds). The width of the slide at its greatest extent was approximately 200 ft. The slide traveled with speed over some pretty big cliffs and was obstructing hazards/cliffs in the run in advance of the skiers path, so the skier below called the avalanche and the skier in the slide safely exited the run. The skier in the slide reported that he felt the snow pulling him down the fall line. Considering the width of the slide and the hazards in the area we decided to document this event.Signs of Unstable Snow
None reported
Observations
In general we observed a lot of sluffing. We dug a quick hand pit at the top of the bowl to see how deep the sugary snow was and it was at least 2 ft where we were stopped. We were riding pretty aggressively within planned runs. Other than the one large sluff we triggered over the cliffs, our main concern was with how pervasive the weak snow was with this week's upcoming storm. We probably will avoid this area after the new snowfall until the professionals can better assess the snow stability.