4-19-05, North Fork of Shumway Canyon

(Wet slab avalanche occurred on 4-16-06)

Cornice fall on Easter triggered this large wet slab avalanche in the Wellsville Wilderness.  The natural avalanche on a northeast facing slope started on the 9000' ridgeline

After several days with very warm temperatures and no overnight refreezes, and then heavy rain and strong winds at high elevations... Conditions were ripe for avalanches on Easter Weekend.

The heavy debris flowed a couple thousand vertical feet down the upper north Shumway Canyon; the same gully that any other avalanches in the drainage would come barreling down.

I guess long-running avalanches are common in the region, but I'm continually impressed by the potential in this area. I mean, imagine what this will look like when everything comes out at once.

The avalanche ran way down, depositing this pile at its toe. My altimeter read 6700', and I was looking down a bit into the gully.

If you're in one of these funneling gullies when the freight-train hits, you won't survive.

At around 7000', the gully turns sharply and the avalanche deposited a big pile of dirt and gargoyle-like ice chunks onto an already melted out south facing slope.  Logan and Millville Peaks are visible in the distance to the east.

Cornice falls triggered a few other slab avalanches in the area, like this one near Stewart Pass