Avalanche obs from the storm cycle

Location Name: 
Pole Creek and Shirley Canyon
Region: 
Cabin Creek, Deep Creek, or Pole Creek Area
Observation Date & Time: 
Sunday, December 11, 2022 - 10:00
Location: 
39.223158, -120.243504
See map: CalTopo
Is this an Avalanche Observation?: 
Yes


Conditions Alerts:

  • Avalanche Activity

Terrain Alerts: 
Slopes Steeper than 30 degrees
Obvious Slide Path
Terrain Matches the Advisory
Observation made by: Guide at Alpenglow Expeditions

Tabs

Observation
Description of Snow, Weather, and Avalanche Conditions: 

With the clearing of the storm system, we've been able to get up into the mountains and have a look around. While touring on today (12/13/22), we saw multiple large slab avalanches multiple areas. No teams got close enough to have a detailed look, but they all look quite similar from a distance. These slab avalanches were in north to north east facing terrain above 7200' and involved quite a bit of their respective start zones. Since we only viewed the slides from a distance, we were unable to gather detailed info, including the failure layer. Gauging by the amount of new snow on the bed surface and debris, they likely slid between Saturday and Sunday morning. Crown height is estimated around 2-3' and width 50-200'. Size ranged from D2 to D2.5, possibly D3 (all details are estimated from a distance). At least 8 large slides were seen this morning, in Shirley Canyon, Silver Peak and the head of Pole Creek. 

Hide Avalanche Details
Additional number of similar avalanches: 
5-10
Hide Trigger
Trigger: 
Natural
Hide Terrain
Aspect: 
Northeast
Starting Elevation: 
near-treeline
Hide Size
Destructive Size: 
D2 Could bury, injure, or kill a person.
Relative Size: 
R3 Medium
Crown Height: 
3 ft
Avalanche Width (Average width): 
100ft.
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