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Avalanche: Whitney Basin

Observer Name
Gordon
Observation Date
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Avalanche Date
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Region
Uintas » Bear River Ranger District » Whitney Basin
Location Name or Route
Aagard's Cabin
Elevation
9,900'
Aspect
North
Slope Angle
Unknown
Trigger
Snowmobiler
Trigger: additional info
Unintentionally Triggered
Avalanche Type
Hard Slab
Weak Layer
Surface Hoar
Depth
5.5'
Width
60'
Vertical
500'
Caught
2
Carried
1
Buried - Partly
1
Comments

A group of 3 snowmobillers were riding in the area near Aagard's cabin between Yamaha Hill and Aagard's Hill. The area is near a treeline on a sidehill with several washes running down the hill. Rider #1 crossed the hill near the bottom right above the treeline. As #2 started to cross near #1's tracks #3 passed and climbed up the hill. As #3 tried to turn around on the hill it started sliding. #3 was able to throttle up and jumped up hill from the first slide only to break off a second. The slide made it down into the trees just at the same time as #2 did. #2 did not get buried or know that the hill had slid until afterwords. #3 was swept down hill with the slide but was able to swim and popped out near the top of the snow. #3 was able to get out of the snow on his own power. He was near his snowmobile which was partially buried.

Coordinates