Avalanche Incident
Avalanche IncidentThe following information was submitted via the online form:
Date: 5/17/98br Time: 1100br Location: Centennial WY - Snowy Range by the "roller coaster"br Avalanche Size: smallbr Elevation: 10,500br Aspect: NNEbr Incline: 45br Type: Slabbr Width: 40 ydbr Thickness: 8-12"br Water: Moistbr Avalanche Trigger: Snowmobilebr Party Size: 4br People Caught: 1br Partial Burials: 0br Complete Burials: 0br Injured: 0br Fatalities: 0br
Comments: We had been riding in spring conditions for 2 days. The skies were clear and it was approx 45 degrees. We were the first to make tracks at most every location we rode and were the first to climb the popular hillclimb area at the start of the Roller Coaster/Chute. We were aware that a slide could occur so while one person was climbing , the rest of us positioned ourselves far enough back. We had planned to videotape our climbing at this location, but had just arrived and didn't have the camera out yet.
I made the first tracks up to hi-mark, and then Jeff went. He outdistanced my mark by quite a margin, was just cresting to turn down and then the whole face started to slide. Jeff was able to keep his balance and momentum and was able to ride the leading edge of the slide down to the bottom. Once the snow stopped sliding, we determined it was approx. 4' deep at the bottom and the slide exposed snowmobile hi-marks from several weeks ago. It was clear that the new snow was deposited on a frozen sub-layer.
A few minutes after the slide, two guys from Estes Park, Wayne and Greg showed up. We introduced ourselves and told them what had just happened. They decided to ride with us the remainder of the day. Maybe they felt us flatlanders shouldn't be left alone in the mountains (or maybe there is a reward for rescuing flatlanders from avalanches! HA).
There was evidence of slide activity in a few other areas on the backside of Medicine Bow Peak, but the snow conditions were great for riding.
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