Saddle Peak avalanche: 2 partially buried_pic1

Two skiers were caught and partially buried in a avalanche below the cliffs of saddle peak on 1/2/2018. They were traveling under the cliffs after leaving the south boundary and had stopped to look at the cave. They heard a rumble from above, saw snow coming over the cliffs, looked at one another and started skiing downhill as fast as they could. They were overtook by snow coming off the cliffs and one, possibly both were buried up to their waist.  After self extricating and retrieving gear, they were able to ski to the bottom of the Slushmans lift and report. Ski patrol and Search and Rescue made sure no one else was buried in the slide.

The slide was apparently triggered above the cliffs by a snowboarder cutting across a small wind loaded pocket (black circle in photo). The fracture was at most 20" deep and 60' across.

Strong downslope and south winds transporting recent new snow was the predominant weather creating small to medium sized wind slabs mid slope across the greater Bridger Bowl region the previous night and morning.

Bridger Range, 2018-01-02