Avalanche almost in bounds at Hood

[ARob]

I was patrolling at Hood on Sunday when there was a slide in the Salmon River Gully involving two or three snowboarders. Everyone got out and was ok, but when I went and saw the debris, it was clear that those who got out were lucky.

 

The Salmon River Gully is the gully that goes all the way down to and past the climber's parking lot at Timberline. There was a lot of snow over last week and the wind loads quite a cornice in that gully. On good days in good conditions, these lips are a lot of fun to throw yourself off, but on Sunday, some of the incuts under the cornices were six feet plus. I would say the crown was at least sixty feet long and one of the blocks was about five feet tall and ten feet long with about a hundred anvil sized hunks sprawled all around.

 

This area is just outside the Out of Bounds markers off the Magic Mile lift and is one of my personal favorite runs. Just be careful when heading out there.

 

Side note: Both Ski Patrol and Portland Mountain Rescue happened to be practicing avalanche rescue that day in the gully, so there was a very fast response. I think it's great that there are so many individuals in the area giving their time on a blue bird day to learn how to save other people's butts.

[Jon H]

More importantly, they're learning how to save their own butts if they go for the big ride. Self-rescue is the most important skill in the mountains!

[i_like_sun]

This winter has been pretty crazy. Its been unusually stable for weeks at a time, and then BANG, some HUGE slide comes down!

 

There was a GINORMOUS slide in the Mt Baker wilderness back in December. I toured into the avi debris a few days after it came down, and the pile of rubble was a good 15-20 feet tall.... So much power....