


I came across this recent scary looking human-triggered avalanche near Cave Hollow. Once again, not having heard it in person, I can only read the story from the tracks.

This fresh soft slab avalanche on a 39-degree east-northeast facing slope at around 9000' in elevation is around 50' wide and a little less than 2' deep.

The slab included snow from the most recent two storms and broke into weak sugary January snow beneath the early February sun-crust

I noticed a snowmobile track escaping off the left flank.

Nicely done, and I'd love to see the video.

Here, notice the track of the probable trigger entering the crown in the center.

We are plagued by persistent weak layers on most slopes, and a substantial slab is only starting to form.

A similar avalanche occurred nearby, low on the Northeast face of Providence Peak. The avalanche from earlier in the weekend stepped down into old buried weak layers.

Here is another apparently human-triggered avalanche from Monday low on the North Face of Millville Peak.
These are significant events indicating similar avalanche potential on hundreds of neighboring slopes. I want to encourage you to report backcountry avalanches as soon as you can. The information you provide is critical and could certainly be a factor in saving lives among our own neighbors. We keep all backcountry observations confidential.

Clouds like these on the Wellsville Range indicate windy, unsettled weather.


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