Avalanche: Douglas Island

Location: Fred Meyer Bowl

Date:
Observer:
Michael Riederer
Route & General Observations

Skinned between Wedding Bowl and Fish Creek Knob to top of Fred Meyer and over to Grand Central. Back up for one on the Fred Meyer bowl trees near the pass.

Dug pit on 1/2/20 at 30 degrees with ECTX. No activity on descent. Skied again on 1/3/20 at steeper terrain with activity; low energy point releases down to the recent rain crust at 40-45 degrees.

Avalanche Details
If this is an avalanche observation, click yes below and fill in the form as best as you can. If people were involved, please provide details.
Trigger UnknownAvalanche Type Dry Loose Snow
Aspect NorthElevationunknown
Slope Angle 40degCrown Depth 6in
WidthunknownVertical Run 50ft
Avalanche Details

Loose dry point releases from Grand Central propagating across steep slopes (40-45 degrees) on the rain crust. Some natural slides on steep terrain at bottom, many shallow releases low energy triggered during pruning descent.

Skied again on bowl trees and ski cuts triggered loose, slow point releases (pictured). Ran ~50 feet until ~35 degrees. ECTX with no activity one day before. More snow on top of crust/dry interface might provide enough energy at steeper slopes to run before consolidation occurs. No activity on skin up.

Red Flags
Red flags are simple visual clues that are a sign of potential avalanche danger. Please record any sign of red flags below.
Observer Comments

Recent snow, wind loading was minimal.

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

Mid 20's, consistent dry snow with cloud cover.

Snow surface

Dry snow. Rain crust ~4 inches down.

Snowpack

ECTX 1/2/20 at 30 degrees on N face.

Photos & Video
Please upload photos below. Maximum of 5 megabytes per image. Click here for help on resizing images. If you are having trouble uploading please email images separately to staff.

ski cut  

Location