Sawtooth Avalanche Center

Avalanche Occurrence

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General Information

This avalanche was triggered by a skier on a E-ENE facing slope at 9,600' near Galena Summit. The avalanche was 500' wide, 2-4' thick, and ran 600 vertical feet before disappearing from view.

Observer:
SAC Forecaster

Verified by SAC?
Yes

Occurrence Date:
Dec 14, 2021 1:00 pm (+/- 1 day)

Location:
Titus Ridge

Comments:

Intentional skier-triggered avalanche. Triggered from a flat wind-loaded ridge. Spanned multiple small gullies (approximately 500' wide). Failed on 12/11 facet layer at the new/old interface. The facet layer was ~8 cm thick and sitting on a weak melt-freeze crust.

Avalanche Characteristics

# of Avys:
1
Aspect:
E (NE)
Start Zone Elev:
9600ft
Size:
D2 / R4
Type:
SS-Soft Slab
Trigger:
AS-Skier
c-Intentional
Bed Surface:
O-Old Snow
Depth:
2.5ft (max: 3ft)
Width:
490ft
Weak Layer:
Dec 11, 2021 (FC)

Media

This avalanche was triggered by a skier on a E-ENE facing slope at 9,600' near Galena Summit. The avalanche was 500' wide, 2-4' thick, and ran 600 vertical feet before disappearing from view.
This avalanche was triggered by a skier on a E-ENE facing slope at 9,600' near Galena Summit. The avalanche was 500' wide, 2-4' thick, and ran 600 vertical feet before disappearing from view.

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