Climax slide photos

CB Avalanche Center March 28, 20162015-16 Observations, Accidents, Avi-map 15-16

Location: Crested Butte Area
Date of Observation: 03/28/2016
Name: Zach Guy

Subject: Climax slide photos
Aspect: North East
Elevation: 10,850 ft

Avalanches: Photos of Climax Chutes near miss below. The crown is on an ENE aspect wrapping to NE at roughly 10,850 ft. You could clearly see a dust layer on the bedsurface of a large soft slab, roughly 2 feet deep. (Probably failed on the March 6 crust/facet layer), and the slide stepped down to the ground further down slope, which wasn’t a whole lot deeper on this path, due to numerous slides already this season. From my limited vantage point, I’d rate the slide: SS-ASu-R3-D2.5-O/G
Weather:
Snowpack:

3/28. Skier triggered persistent slab in Climax Chutes. NE aspect NTL

Debris washed over cliff bands near the runout

3/28. Near miss in Climax Chutes

Schuylkill Avalanche incident

CB Avalanche Center March 28, 20162015-16 Observations, Accidents, Avi-map 15-16

Location: Paradise Divide Area
Date of Observation: 03/27/2016
Name: Evan Ross

Subject: Schuylkill Avalanche incident overview
Aspect: North East, East
Elevation: 11,200ft NTL

Avalanches: See Video.

Facetted grains on top of the 3/6th melt freeze crust

Facetted grains on top of a melt freeze crust was the weak layer in this incident.

1/21/16 Ruby Fatality Accident Report

CBAC January 31, 20162015-16 Observations, Accidents, Announcements, Avi-map 15-16

On 1/21/16, two snowmobilers triggered and were caught in a large slab avalanche near the Southeast shoulder or Ruby Peak. One of the riders was buried and killed. The final report of the Ruby Peak incident is now available here.

On 1/21/16, two snowmobilers triggered and were caught in a large slab avalanche near the Southeast shoulder or Ruby Peak. One of the riders was buried and killed. The full report is available here.

Preliminary Accident Investigation on Ruby

CB Avalanche Center January 21, 20162015-16 Observations, Accidents, Avi-map 15-16

Edit 1/31/16: The final report is now available here.

Location: Kebler Pass Area
Date of Observation: 01/21/2016
Name: Zach Guy

Subject: Preliminary Accident Investigation on Ruby
Aspect: East, South East
Elevation: 11,000 ft. Near Treeline

Avalanches: Our deepest condolences go out to all of those involved or affected by this incident. Below are preliminary avalanche details from a site visit shortly after the incident. Full accident investigation and report to follow. At approximately 13:45, two people riding “Canadian” on a snowmobile unintentionally triggered a large soft slab avalanche that failed in old snow layers. SS-AMu-R3-D2-O. One of the riders was buried in a tree well. Members of the group responded and extracted the victim. Irwin Guides responded shortly after and evacuated the victim while performing CPR. The crown was 95 cm thick on average, 500 feet wide and ran 140 vertical feet. The slab failed on a layer of rounded facets above a thin melt-freeze crust (Jan 14th crust). See profiles. The slope was an ESE to SE aspect near treeline at 11,000 feet. Above the burial location, the crown pulled back to 32 degrees, and the slope was as steep as 42 degrees along this vertical transect.
Weather:
Snowpack:

Crown Profile above the burial location

Crown profile, near right flank of avalanche

Looking uphill from near the burial location

Avalanche outline and Google Earth overview

Skier triggered Avalanche near Splains Gulch

CB Avalanche Center November 12, 20152015-16 Observations, Avi-map 15-16

Location: Kebler Pass Area
Date of Observation: 11/11/2015
Name: Heather Bradford

Subject Skier Triggered Avalanche Near Splains Gulch
Aspect: North
Elevation: 9600′

Avalanches: One skier triggered R1, D1 soft slab Avalanche. Skier caught but not buried. Crown height approximately 35cm. Failed at the interface between basal facets and the snow from last weeks storm cycle. Starting zone angle approximately 37 degrees.
Weather: Overcast. Light snowfall and light wind, no snow transport observed. 3:00pm.
Snowpack: Snowpack is minimal at this elevation, only measured 40-50cm of total snow. Snow from the past storm cycles have come in right side up but it is sitting on top of 1-2cm of basal facets.

Avalanche on north face of Mt. Baldy

CB Avalanche Center November 9, 20152015-16 Observations, Avi-map 15-16

Location: Paradise Divide Area
Date of Observation: 11/07/2015
Name: Randy Felix

Subject Avalanche on north face of Mt. Baldy
Aspect: North

Avalanches: North face of baldy. Approx 100-200 feet from summit. 2.5ft crown. Approx 100 ft. Wide ran for several hundred feet. Being conservative. Looks to have slid on an old storm layer possibly a wind slab near the ground. I did not inspect the bed surface. Avalanche was soft slab and fairly slow moving.
Weather: Clear calm and sunny.
Snowpack: Powder. Approx 20 inches of new snow or whatever the exact storm totals were for Washington Gulch area.