Public Observation #2022-712

Observation Details

Submitted:
May 10, 2022 8:31 AM
Observation Date:
May 9, 2022
Zone or Region:
Central Cascades
Activity:
Skiing/Snowboarding
Location:
Southeast Ridge of Broken Top

Observed Avalanches

Did you observe any avalanches? 
Yes
Avalanche Type:
Hard Slab
Size:
D2: Could bury, injure, or kill a person
Elevation:
7800
Aspect:
SE
Comments:
Naturally occuring wind slab avalanche on E/SE aspect above treeline -- to lookers left of Pucker Up on Broken Top's SE ridge. Size D1.5-2

Signs of Unstable Snow

Did you see shooting cracks? 
Yes
Did you experience collapsing or whumpfing? 
No

Observations

Quite a large natural avalanche was observed on an E/SE aspect above treeline. Unsure when the slide occurred, but due to how fresh it looked when we saw it on Monday 5/9 @ 12pm, we assume it happened sometime that morning after the most recent snow had fallen. Relatively large visible crown and slide debris, but hard to tell exactly how large from our vantage point.

We dug a pit on a similar aspect on Ball Butte to find that there were multiple weak layers in the new storm snow. The top ~36" of storm snow was highly consolidated, creating potentially high-energy slabs should the weak layer go. Be careful out there on the wind-loaded aspects!

Media