One skier caught and carried, partially buried with just their hand exposed. Dug out by partners with no injuries.

Advisory from February 5, 2003

Avalanche Conditions:

The snow pack is on edge, and there were two very close calls yesterday. A party on the north side of Cardiff pass triggered a large hard slab avalanche. On their second run, they were traversing further to the east when the slide broke out above them. One skier was caught and carried over a 1,000’. He managed to grab on to a tree for a short while mid ride and ended up on top uninjured. The slide was on a northerly facing slope at about 10,000’, and is reported as approximately 200’ wide, and up to six feet deep. It broke in sugary faceted snow a short ways above the ground.

The second slide was just above Twin Lakes pass on a northeast facing slope at 10,000’. It broke a couple turns above the skier, and carried him 200’. He was buried with only his hand above the surface. His partners rapidly dug him out uninjured. This slide was roughly 60’ wide and 3’ deep. Both these slides occurred after the parties had made 1 or more runs with no signs of instability.

You need a suspicious attitude if you are traveling on slopes of about 35 degrees or steeper today, because if you do trigger a slide, it will be deep and dangerous. Most of the recent slides have occurred on slopes that slid during the past month and have a shallow snowpack, or in shallow, rocky areas near ridges. Our snow pack is still quite variable, and determining the shallow snow pack areas is difficult. In a few steep areas, sluffs in the new snow getting big enough to wash you off a cliff or into trees. Cornices are sensitive, and can break back further back than expected, and then trigger a slab on the slope below.