Beehive Avalanche Crown

Beehive Avalanche Crown

A skier triggered this slide on a west facing slope as he dropped into Beehive Basin from the Bear/Beehive divide.  The slope was 35 degrees steep and the slide broke on well developed facets two feet deep.  It ran about 50 feet wide into trees.  A snowpit on Dec 18 on a similar aspect and elevation showed this weakness in stability tests.  The 10-12" of new snow Wednesday added enough stress to create unstable conditions on this slope. Photo: Anon

Northern Madison, 2011-12-23