Avalanche: Summit

Location: Summit Lake Road Obs

Date:
Observer:
Route & General Observations

Drove through Summit Lake between 12pm and 12:45pm. We witnessed a natural avalanche in motion on the West face of Tri-Tip, debris came to a stop ~200 vertical feet above the lake elevation. There was evidence of wide spread avalanche activity on Moose Mountain West, North aspects and South face, Tenderfoot SW face. Visibility was descent, and couldn’t see any new activity on East facing aspects of Fresno, Colorado, and Summit.

Avalanche Details
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Trigger NaturalRemote Trigger0
Avalanche Type Wet SlabAspect West
Elevation 3000ftSlope Angleunknown
Crown DepthunknownWidthunknown
Vertical Run 1000ft  
Avalanche Details

See photos below. Witnessed Natural in motion on Tri-Tip West aspect. Debris ran on top of older debris, but stopped 200' above the lake.

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)?No
Cracking (Shooting cracks)?No
Observer Comments

Recent avalanches
Above freezing temperatures (44F at Summit Snotel)
Raining

Weather & Snow Characteristics
Please provide details to help us determine the weather and snowpack during the time this observation took place.
Weather

Temps at 12pm were 44F at Summit Snowtel (1400') and 30F at Summit Mile 45 (3800')
Winds were light from the NE
Sun was poking through cloud cover at times, but skies were mostly obscured
Lightly raining

Snow surface

Wet snow at road level

Photos & Video
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