Avalanche: Turnagain

Location: Eddies Mtn, west face, just above tree line--first big convex roller to the right of skin track

Date:
Observer:
Avalanche Details
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Trigger NaturalRemote Trigger0
Avalanche Type0Aspect West Southwest
Elevation 2100ftSlope Angle 34deg
Crown DepthunknownWidth 125ft
Vertical Run 250ft  
Avalanche Details

Huge slab. 5-6 ft deep at crown. The whole mountain shook with what sounded like a cannon blast. The snow under me ( flat spot 1/4 mile away) went "WHOOOMF" and vibrated for a minute or so. I went down towards the noise since I saw two skiers heading that way earlier and discovered ski tracks heading into the avalanche. It looked like the whole face ripped off. I turned my beacon to search and scanned the debris field. I failed to receive a signal. At the bottom run-out I found two sets of ski tracks leaving and proceeding in classic "s-turn" fashion. This leads me to believe that the avalanche was not triggered by skiers but just happened to go in the same spot(even if it was just 10-20 minutes afterwards). The avalanche was on a convex roll over, on one of the first snow fields above tree line right of the skin track (skiers left). The avalanche happened where the snow was transitioning between slush/crud and powder.

Red Flags
Red flags are simple visual clues that are a sign of potential avalanche danger. Please record any sign of red flags below.
Obvious signs of instability
Recent Avalanches?Yes
Collapsing (Whumphing)?Yes
Cracking (Shooting cracks)?No
Weather & Snow Characteristics
Please provide details to help us determine the weather and snowpack during the time this observation took place.
Weather

Warm, "t-shirt" weather (45 degrees F?)

Snow surface

The avalanche occurred between the new feeling powder and some heavier slush/crud. The snow on this (WNW) aspect was very heavy and sounded much different (sloshy) than the (NNW) aspect that I was doing laps on.

Snowpack

I dug a snow pit on the NNW aspect below the jagged peak on Eddies. I found some instabilities at around 2ft down but could not get it to trigger in a column test (even jumped on it). I did not dig down to the length of the 5-6 ft of the avalanche that occurred on the WNW aspect so I don't know if the persistent slab exists there too.

Photos & Video
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