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Wind Slabs in the Bronco Area
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Location Name: Bronco Chutes Region: Mount Rose Area Date and time of observation: Fri, 01/26/2018 - 16:00 |
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Location Map: United States
39° 19' 2.7804" N, 119° 57' 42.0876" W
See map: Google Maps
US
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Red Flags: Recent avalanche activity Recent loading by new snow, wind, or rain Obvious avalanche path |
Observation made by: Public
Any other comments about the observation or links to outside pages that have more info on the observation:
The Relay area's new snow depth varied greatly with wind deposition. Sheltered below treeline terrain had upwards of 20" in places. Snowmobile and skier traffic on the West side of Relay Ridge showed minimal signs of instabilities across all aspects even on wind loaded terrain. Within the Wilderness boundary informal tests produced minimal signs of instabilities. The Bronco area generally revealed similar results but had an increase in reactive wind slab occurrence. A ski cut on wind loaded complex terrain triggered a D2 avalanche. The bed surface was the old / new snow interface. The crown measured 30-40cm and slid the width of the chute approximately 15' and ran for 300-400'. The slope was approximately 45 degrees. Another potential wind slab avalanche was seen in the Bronco area but lighting and distance made discerning details difficult.
