Recent Teton Pass Avi Activity

[U.P.Ripper]

This is from a SAR guy who is wydots avalanche expert:
(Take a second to think about the snow being 40 feet deep over the road - that's a 4-STORY BUILDING!)


"Hi all,
As you can imagine, we have been way busy on Teton Pass. I don't have
much time so here's a summary line of natural slides and results from
control work this week.

Monday 12/22/08 NE face of Glory Bowl to the highway w/ Gazex.

Thursday 12/25/08 pass closes at 1630 because of increasing avalanche
danger.

Friday 12/26/08 0200 Natural Slide at Glory Bowl 10ft of debris in
highway. 1st shot briings another 20ft of debris to the road, 30ft pile
takes us several hours to get through. At the top, 2 10lbs shots w/ no
results in Twin, 1st Gaxex shot brings 15ft of debris to the road. Pass
finally opens at 1500.

Sunday 12/28/08 2200 Avalanche at mp 13 near coal creek puts 12-15ft of
debris in the road (Found a moose carcass in it and assume it triggered
the slide). Pass stays closed for the night.

Monday 12/29/08 0300 No results from Gazex in Twin and skiers right side
of Glory. Control work at MP 13 (Beaver Slides) brings 3 slides to the
road, 4ft crowns and 10-12ft of debris in the road. Pass opens at 0700.

Tuesday 12/30/08 Pass closes at 0800. Heli bombing mission w/ 25lb
anfo bombs. Shot below the cliff band in Glory just off SE ridge goes
5ft-6ft deep, 40ft of debris in the road. Shot in Shovel slide goes big
and stops 50ft short of the highway. No results in Rocky Gulch,
Suprise, and Second Turn.

Things are going big, but with deep slabs you need big bombs or get on
the thin spot that collapses the weak layer and propagates through of
the slab. Be careful out there and stay safe."

[Tye 1on]

Good post. A little info from today's paper:


--------snip--------
Jay Pistono, Teton Pass Ambassador, helped Wyoming Department of Transportation avalanche crews with the effort. Pistono said they fired about 20 shells from a howitzer and also dropped charges from a helicopter.

Even with the effort, Pistono said the skier’s-left side of the bowl didn’t slide.

“Frankly we were all surprised at how stubborn the snowpack was,” he said. “That’s the thing that’s really a concern. It’s a stubborn snowpack in some respects, but it’s also a time bomb. You might hit a spot that triggers the whole zone.”

A number of slopes slid over the past week or so, including Shovel Slide, Avalanche Bowl and Titmouse on Teton Pass, Pistono said. First Turn and Second Turn on Mount Glory also slid, First Turn being set off by a skier.

“That’s fairly safe terrain from a skier’s perspective,” Pistono said. Yet it still went.

“If you’re going to go, you really need to work with terrain that’s safe,” he continued. “You have to do the million things to keep all the odds in your favor to keep it safe. You’re taking a chance any time you go out, but you’re taking a little bit more of a chance now. You have to think about other people, too.”

[U.P.Ripper]

Thanks for the addition Tye.

[panchosdad]

Homemadesalsa and I hiked up Mt. Glory today and skied a conservative line into Coal Creek. Decent skiing in the sheltered trees, but calling it powder would be a stretch. Anything open was fully nuked by the winds two nights ago. A fair number of down trees and lots of small branches littering the surface. In a few places up high the winds had scoured down to the ground or the November rain crust.

We observed slides on the following:

- In Mail Cabin, Casino and Cave bowls slid substantially. Small slabs pulled out in the Third Option. The Big Do It also slid, as did the steep rollover on skiers right of the Little Do it. Skeeters' Run, behind Moose Brush slid as well.

- Several bowls in upper Mosquito Creek slid as well. All were NE to E exposures. There looked to be a substantial slide on the East face of Palisades peak in the distance. The bowl at the end of Burbank had a slide in the middle third below the rollover, also a NE face.

- South of the Pass Avalanche bowl had a small slide from the rollover below the upper bowl. Didn't see any activity in the Bear Claw area, Thanksgiving or Edelweiss.

- Glory Bowl slid from just below the Gas Ex. Little Tuckermans slid wall to wall. Couldn't really make out a crown on Twin Slides.

- The East Face of Taylor had slid early in the cycle. The crown was still visible just below the uppermost cliff bands. Debris ran not quite full path. There were several newer crowns on the lower SE ridge and on the lower apron of the ridge south of the summer trail bowl. Debris from these reached the main gully. The South Face had no discernible crown, but we crossed a considerable debris pile on the out track. My guess is something came off the south ridge. There were also considerable debris piles just down stream from the South face path, coming off the lower south ridge of Taylor. The first created an 8' high pile in a spot I don't remember ever seeing substantial debris before. The second filled in the creek right at the summer log bridge, conveniently making the exit much easier.

In sum, many frequent fliers went. There is still considerable hangfire, particularly in the area south of the pass and in Mail Cabin. With further loading due the next few days, we could see more releases.

Glad someone started this thread. I'd love to hear what's gone in the Park.

[Roo]

Found a moose carcass in it and assume it triggered
the slide. Pass stays closed for the night.

Bet it was some Texan BC jong moose with no gear.