Observation type
Avalanche
Location (general area)
Baden Powell
Date (yyyymmdd)
20130224
Time
2pm
Road conditions to area
clear
Temperature
20F
Sky
clear (no clouds)
Wind speed
Strong (26-38mph Whole trees in motion)
Wind direction
N
Slope aspect
North
Slope angle
30~40
Elevation
8000 ft
Snow depth
0 - 12"
Boot/ Ski penetration
yes 
Precipitation
None
Activity, recent avalanches
No
Brief description
set loose some wind slab- carried 3 of us down hill
Whumphing noises, shooting cracks. collapsing
yes
Rapid warming
no
Obvious avalanche path
yes
Terrain trap
no
Comment
Coverage was thin. There was dense wind blown crust with occasional soft spots, but highly variable. Main gully had a hard refrozen base under, however. We did have some warning earlier in the forest above the gully when a slab shattered and carried one of us ~50 feet into a small hollow. We should have heeded. But thin conditions in the main gully had us thinking more about rock hazards than snow hazards. We then made the mistake of skiing close to one another as we started down, so there were two of us in the gully when the third skier got a big slab to move and shatter, then take him with it. He shouted out enough for me, in the middle, to understand. That gave me a critical second or two to ski hard right and away from the gully, but I still got slammed and tossed around for 50 feet or so. He rode with it another 400 ft, and wound up with the first of our group-- who was also overtaken but not knocked down-- way down below. Not a scratch on any of us, but quite a wake up call!
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