Public Observation #2022-876

Submitted:
December 8, 2022 10:04 AM
Observation Date:
December 3, 2022
Zone or Region:
Central Cascades
Activity:
Skiing/Snowboarding
Location:
Elk Mountain
Did you trigger any avalanches? 
Yes
Was it intentional? 
No
Avalanche Type:
Soft Slab
Size:
D1: Relatively harmless to people
Elevation:
Aspect:
E
Comments:
East Face of Elk Mountain
50 feet across
1-1.5 feet deep
100 foot run out
Did you see shooting cracks? 
Yes
Did you experience collapsing or whumpfing? 
No
No signs of weak layers at the top of Elk Mountain. Some slight wind loading on the eastern side but we skinned over parts (Jumping very now and then to see if cracks began to form) and there was no sign of cracking or sliding. We skied roughly halfway down the east face going one at a time. Halfway down we came to a convex roll in the terrain, first turn triggered the avalanche taking me with it. I was under the snow for a few seconds before popping to the surface and somehow managed to get skies underneath me to ski out my lefthand side while the avalanche continued down the slope.
No one was injured.