Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center

Above avalanche bowl. Stable. New snow bonding well to melt-freeze crust which is breaking down.

Fatality site. Accident occurred April 1. Data collected immediately following rescue/recovery on April 2. Crown varied from 4 inches to four feet. Slab propagated along exposed ridge. Formed from recent wind loading. Although deep in spots did not extend far down slope (had no stauchwall). Slab carried victim a long distance and buried him. Slab faced south to southeast. Bedsurface was a slicker sun crust just down slope of the crown.

This pit shows more settlement(hardness) at the bottom of the snow received since Nov 25. This could be concentrating stresses and making slab more cohesive. Skied this terrain but stayed off the adjacent steeper gully.

Surface hoar was not present at the pit location, but was observed nearby.

Crown profile for the Breccia Cliffs fatality on March 4, 2019. The bed surface was at 100 cm. Lower down on the slope, the bed surface was a sun crust at around 90 cm that was not present in this crown profile.

Crown profile for the Mt Leidy Fatality on January 9, 2019.

This crown profile was made during the investigation of the December 22 Horse Creek Fatality in the Wyoming Range. The primary failure was 53 cm above the ground on faceted snow that likely began as buried near surface facets. In a small area above the burial location, the avalanche scoured down to the 1 finger faceted layer below and also failed on the fist hard facets at the base of the snowpack.

Snow pit was shaded by nearby trees and is more representative of a northeasterly to northerly aspect.