In search of a calm and social ski day, my buddy and I resorted to Porter Fork for the sake of ease and tradition. Having regularly skied this area we felt that a calm ascent to the meadow above the luge would do the job without causing great risk. Upon arrival at the lower meadow, negotiating the idea of a few more switchbacks for some pow turns just some 50-100 feet away from skin track became very appealing. The allure of new snow caused us to divert east from the skin track near the upper clearing some few hundred feet below porters pass and ski the northwest slope sweeping down to the lower meadow.

Aware of the danger this could potentially bring, my partner and I agreed to go one at a time, and prayed. Feeling good we continued, I stayed close to the forest on my left side. I put down my first four turns I heard clearly "GO LEFT! GO LEFT!" Looking back I saw a mass of snow slowly gaining momentum towards me. Thinking quickly, I cut back into the anchored forest with what little momentum I had and watched the slide pass me by at a remarkably slow pace. My astonishment came when realizing the sheer stupid luck I'd been granted to come out un scratched from such a significant slide. If the snow had broken out from underneath me, I could have lost balance and been buried in a matter of seconds.

Regrouping at the bottom, we could see just how far out this slide had propagated. Some 400 feet wide and maybe 20 or so inches deep, sliding a distance of 300 feet all the way down to the meadow run out. A single other witness viewed our avalanche from a distance at the meadow and agreed at how lucky we were for making it out.

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