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Avalanche: Douglas Island

Location: Entrance of Boat Show

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

Skinned up the apron to ridge. Dug a pit at 2500’ with MCallahan – NE aspect, 25deg slope, entrance area to Boat Show, in a lightly treed zone.

Avalanche Details
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Trigger UnknownAvalanche Type Wet Loose Snow
Aspect NortheastElevation 2200ft
Slope AngleunknownCrown Depth 6in
Width 20ftVertical Run 20ft
Avalanche Details

Small loose wet, likely from earlier in the day. Guessing that it occurred on new/old snow interface based on pit results, and small crown. Skied past it and didn’t investigate. There were other tracks in the zone from earlier in the day, but trigger cause unclear.

Red Flags
Red flags are simple visual clues that are a sign of potential avalanche danger. Please record any sign of red flags below.
Obvious signs of instability
Recent Avalanches?Yes
Collapsing (Whumphing)?No
Cracking (Shooting cracks)?No
Observer Comments

Roller balls on most all visible aspects above 35 degrees in the zone, including Troy slopes.

Weather & Snow Characteristics
Please provide details to help us determine the weather and snowpack during the time this observation took place.
Weather

Winds calm, with gentle but heavy snow falling. Approx 32F. Precipitation had been oscillating between snow and rain at the Troy Meadow variously throughout the day.

Snow surface

Heavy, but fresh 4-5 inches atop a sometimes breakable crust.

Snowpack

Pit results:
Depth: 120 cm
ECTN22 - 20 cm down
ECTN28 - 28 cm down

We intended to, but couldn’t reasonably investigate at the deeper (historically) persistent weak layer(s) as there were Alder shoots present in the lower portion of the pit.