Location: Paradise Divide Area
Date of Observation: 11/17/2018
Name: Andrew Pearson
Subject: Halloween Bowl Paradise Basin
Aspect: North, North West
Elevation: 11800
Avalanches:
There has been two avalanches in Halloween Bowl out Paradise divide this year. The one witnessed happened 11/17/2018. It was human triggered and broke off in an area filled with trigger points. It didn’t propagate far and did not go all the way to the basin floor. I would call it and R2 D1 slide. The slope angle at and around the crown was 35+ and strictly N aspect. I would imagine that it failed on the faceted weak layer based on the pit I dug, which was right next to the slide same aspect and slope angle.
Weather: Clear, Partly Cloudy. Temperatures stayed around and below freezing majority of the day. Winds in the bowl were light. No precipitation (valid through 3pm).
Snowpack: Snow depth varying depending on wind deposit, but consistently around 70-80 cm in the deeper areas, where the avalanche occurred. In the pit I dug at 55cm was a prominent weak layer with faceted snow. On top sat a more consolidated slab about 20-30 cm deep. Top slab was about four fingers whereas the next layer was fist and rotten. When doing a CT test, There was failure at 55cm at 15 making it a CTM.
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