Avalanche: Beaver Mountain Backside 1/20/2012

Observer Name: 
Pagnucco
Observation Date: 
01/20/2012
Occurrence Date: 
01/20/2012
Occurrence Time: 
Unknown
Region: 
Logan
Logan River
Beaver Creek
Beaver Mountain Backside
Location Name: 
Beaver Backside
Printer-friendly version

Location

41° 57' 25.9632" N, 111° 33' 26.8992" W
Avalanche Characteristics
Elevation: 
8200'
Aspect: 
East
Slope Angle: 
30
Trigger: 
Unknown
Trigger: additional info: 
Intentionally Triggered
Unintentionally Triggered
Remotely Triggered
Avalanche Type: 
Soft Slab
Weak Layer: 
Depth Hoar
Depth (avg): 
20"
Width: 
Unknown
Vertical: 
Unknown
General Comments

We observed numerous small avalanches and fractures on the backside of Beaver today. They picked up about 14" last night so everything was more sensitive than yesterday. None of these ran far due to the low slope angle but in addition to shattering cracks there was some more movement today. Some of the cracks we observed went to the ground, some were just the new snow. Wild to see an entire area fracture, move about a foot, then stop. Alot of whumpfing and collapsing under foot. Most of these events occurred on East/NE facing slopes way below the ridgeline. Terrain features like cliffbands and sub-ridges seemed to have these pockets tucked nicely away on the leeward side. Many skiers triggered fractures with no idea that they had. A few of the steep cliff bands did produce avalanches that ran a couple hundred feet.

This area is outside of the ski area boundaries but frequently skied/boarded especially on powder days. The ski patrol does not regularly perform control work here though, today, there were a few out there performing ski cuts in those steeper pockets.

Also observed activity in the Chicken Hill Ridge/White Pine area from highway.

IMG_0911.JPG
IMG_0912.JPG
IMG_0915.JPG
IMG_0917.JPG
IMG_0919.JPG
IMG_0922.JPG
IMG_0925.JPG
IMG_0927.JPG
Javascript is required to view this map.

Site Built by Dharmatech
Site Refresh by Flint Creative