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Natural wind slab in St. Germaine's Bowl

Location Name: 
Spur Ridge of Sargent's into St. Germaine's Bowl
Region: 
Mt. Shasta
Date and time of avalanche (best estimate if unknown): 
Sun, 01/28/2018 - 1:00am
Observation made by: 
Forecaster
Red Flags:
Recent avalanche activity

Location Map

96067 Mount Shasta , CA
United States
41° 22' 34.3092" N, 122° 11' 44.4912" W
California US

Avalanche Observations

Details

SS-N-R2-D1.5-S (soft slab, natural, small relative to path, relatively harmless, bed surface within new snow)

A natural wind slab avalanche occurred late in the afternoon or overnight on Saturday on a spur ridge of Sargent’s Ridge into St. Germaine’s bowl. The avalanche occurred on an east aspect at 9,400 ft. The avalanche broke 1-3 ft deep, 200 ft wide, and ran 150 ft downslope. The avalanche may have been cornice triggered. The avalanche also stepped down to a deeper layer (still within new snow) approximately 20 ft downslope from the crown. This avalanche occurred as a result of the major wind event on Saturday where strong westerly winds blew steadily throughout the day.

 

Characteristics

Avalanche Type: 
DrySlab
Trigger type: 
Natural
Slope: 
35degrees
Aspect: 
East
Elevation: 
9 400ft.
Terrain: 
Above Treeline
Weak Layer: 
Storm Snow
Bed Surface: 
Storm Snow
Crown Height: 
3 ft
Avalanche Width: 
200ft.
Avalanche Length: 
150ft.
Number of similar avalanches: 
2
Number of people caught: 
0
Number of partial burials: 
0
Number of full burials: 
0

Weather Observations

Statistics