Sawtooth Avalanche Center

Avalanche Occurrence

General Information

(3/7/23) A skier triggered a large avalanche in

Observer:
SAC Forecaster

Verified by SAC?
Yes

Occurrence Date:
Mar 6, 2023 2:00 pm (Exact)

Location:
Warm Springs Ck - Bald Mtn sidecountry

Comments:

A skier triggered an avalanche on Monday in "the burn" outside of the boundaries of Bald Mtn. They skied off a small cornice and landed on a NE facing open slope. Their partner yelled "avalanche!", and they were able to ski out of the slide to a safe spot. This avalanche overran previous ski tracks.

The group had been skiing this area during the past few days. In previous days, they observed small natural avalanches on small terrain features steeper than 35 degrees. They stuck to skiing ridgelines and slopes lower than 30 degrees. After numerous laps on the day of the slide, they saw many tracks in steeper areas and "gained confidence in the snowpack and let my guard down."

Avalanche Characteristics

# of Avys:
1
Aspect:
NE
Start Zone Elev:
7600ft
Size:
D2
Type:
SS-Soft Slab
Trigger:
AS-Skier
u-Unintentional
Bed Surface:
O-Old Snow
Depth:
1.5ft
Width:
200ft

Media

(3/7/23) A skier triggered a large avalanche in "the burn" outside the boundaries of Bald Mtn on Monday. It occurred on a NE facing slope around 7600'.
(3/6/23) The crown of a skier triggered an avalanche in "the burn" area outside the boundaries of Bald Mtn.