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Crested Butte Avalanche Center

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March 20, 2023

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Date of Observation: 03/19/2023
Name: Lee Pownall

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: nacho, seldom seen, white widow, west whiterock, north white bench mark, red ridge over a couple days

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Several nf shots in queens had cornice fall that tumbled close to 1000 feet before stepping down into p slab in extremely shady protected spots. West face whiterock had slid full track without stepping down. Some newer debris in the widow
Weather: Sunny. Springy, but not hot enough to really saturate anything. Enough wind to fill tracks in overnight
Snowpack: Extremely confusing. Some spots on the top of the compass had wind effect, most spots on the bottom of the compass had some sort of solar effect. Plenty of pow and it was ALL faceted. It was a crapshoot figuring out where the crust/facet sandwich was, my arms are tired from jabbing my pole thru layers.

My big takeaway…this next load will be extremely spooky, as there isn’t much continuity as far as aspect is concerned. Should be fun once it’s under a few more inches of swe


Photos:

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Estimated avalanche date: 03/19/2023
Number of Avalanches: 1

Location

Location: Copper Creek
Location Specific:
Start Zone Elevation: ATL: Above Tree Line
Aspect: N

Characteristics

Trigger: Cornice fall
Trigger modifier: Sympathetic
Type: Soft Slab
Failure Plane: New/Old interface

Size

Relative Size:
Destructive Size: D2 – could bury, injure, or kill a person
Avg. crown height (inches):
Avg. width (feet):
Avg. vertical run (feet):

Involvements

# of people caught:
# of partial burials:
# of full burials:

Additional comments:

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