Avalanches on Becker Peak

Location Name: 
Becker Peak
Region: 
Echo Summit Area
Date and time of avalanche (best estimate if unknown): 
Sat, 02/27/2010 - 12:00
Location Map: 
United States
38° 49' 56.2296" N, 120° 3' 35.1072" W
US


Red Flags: 
Recent loading by new snow, wind, or rain
Obvious avalanche path

Observation made by: Public
Avalanche Observations
Avalanche Type: 
dry,slab,
Trigger type: 
Snowboarder
Crown Height: 
2 ft
Aspect: 
North
Weak Layer: 
Storm Snow
Terrain: 
Above Treeline
Elevation: 
8 300ft.
Bed Surface: 
Storm Snow
Number of similar avalanches: 
2
Number of people caught: 
2
Number of partial burials: 
1
More detailed information about the avalanche: 

Lat/long is very approximate.

Hi these are pictures of avalanches that were set off today by myself and some of my friends. We definetely were complacent and very lucky. My friend went down the main chute on Becker and initiated a turn and the slope broke loose. He managed to stay on top and he was ok. My other friend went down and another slab broke loose just to the left of first slab's path. Myself and another guy went right down the main slide path and we were ok. We knew that we needed to find a safe way down. We thought we did, we were wrong. We choose a rollover into some trees as our route. The first 3 made it down ok. The 4th, who happened to be the guy that was caught in the first slab set off another one. This one fractured across a mellow face to a steeper face. The crown itself was at least 2' in depth. My friend was swept down towards where I was at. I ended being buried up to my chest. I was behind some trees which helped. At one point the snow went over my head. It was very scary, especially when I realized that I could not move my lower body. My friend had broken his board, but was otherwise ok. This was a wake up call for sure. The first slab up on Becker seemed to be new snow, and down lower it appeared to be some older snow. 3 of us were splitboarders and we had 1 skier with us. Thank you for all of your work,everything the advisory said was right on the money.

Avalanche Photos: 
Weather Observations
Air temperature: 
Precipitation: 
Air temperature trend: 
Wind Direction: 
Accumulation rate: 
More detailed information about the weather: