| Trigger | Skier | Remote Trigger | 0 |
| Avalanche Type | Soft Slab | Aspect | Southeast |
| Elevation | 3000ft | Slope Angle | unknown |
| Crown Depth | unknown | Width | unknown |
| Vertical Run | unknown |
Avalanche: Girdwood
Location: Burns Glacier
Across Portage Lake, up Burns glacier, across Whittier glacier to peak 3,609 (maybe has a common name).
Avalanche Details
Skier descending shoulder of Baird Peak triggered small wind slab. D0.5-->1. Did not observe the incident directly, were about 1 mile away from it on closest approach, tracks lead away so did not investigate further.
Obvious signs of instability
| Recent Avalanches? | Yes |
| Collapsing (Whumphing)? | No |
| Cracking (Shooting cracks)? | No |
Observer Comments
Heavy wind-loading onto north-east and south-east aspects through the morning into the early afternoon. Recent natural avalanches on same aspect.
Weather
Clear and sunny until the evening when clouds rolled in from the west. High winds from the northwest (up glacier) most of the day, gusts into the 40s-50s on the ridge lines. Winds died down in the evening, or at least appeared to with descent in elevation back to the lake.
Snow surface
Sastrugi and lots of it.