Avalanche near Lost Lakes

Location Name: 
Ridge directly above Lost Lakes
Region: 
Ebbetts Pass Area
Date and time of avalanche (best estimate if unknown): 
Thu, 01/14/2010 - 11:00
Location Map: 
United States
38° 38' 37.0428" N, 119° 56' 48.786" W
See map: Google Maps
US


Red Flags: 
Recent loading by new snow, wind, or rain
Observation made by: Public
Avalanche Observations
Avalanche Type: 
wet,dry,slab,
Slope: 
35degrees
Trigger type: 
Other - explain below
Crown Height: 
3 ft
Aspect: 
Northeast
Weak Layer: 
Storm Snow
Avalanche Width: 
400ft.
Terrain: 
Above Treeline
Elevation: 
8 800ft.
Bed Surface: 
Old Snow
Avalanche Length: 
250ft.
Number of similar avalanches: 
1
More detailed information about the avalanche: 

At around 11am, 1/14/10 on a snowmobile, a friend and I made our way up to the Lost Lakes area near Blue Lakes, and very near the Polaris Bowl. This avy is on the ridge directly over the Lost Lakes. I did not see it happen, only the result as I came up onto the area.

The crown seemed to be about 1-3 feet in height, possbily more, some chunks as large as a fridge, or a snowmobile, very large. They were in the most northern part of the slide, to the far right of the overview picture. In most other areas the actual chucks were much smaller. The debris seems to have been 4-6 feet deep in places, but for its overall size seemed to be a small buildup on the bottom. I'm somewhat familer with this area but not enough to judge exactly how much build up in areas below the avy.

When I arrived at 11am, some snowmobilers had been through the area the day prior. I do not think anyone had been there the day before at that. I would assume it to be a human trigger avalanche, but there were no signs of someone being dug out anywhere. The avy did cover some snowmobile highmarks as seen in the left portion of the overview picture. I did get up close to a couple of places near the bottom and there was a dust covering the chunks allmost up to 1 inch or so.

During the day I did not see any other avy activity in the entire Blue Lakes, Hope Valley area.

Snowpit or crown profile photo or graph: 
Avalanche Photos: 
Weather Observations
Blowing Snow: 
No
Cloud Cover: 
Clear
Air temperature: 
Below Freezing
Wind Speed: 
Calm
Precipitation: 
None
Air temperature trend: 
Warming
Wind Direction: 
Accumulation rate: 
None
More detailed information about the weather: 

Clean, crisp, virtually no wind and blue skies.