A human triggered avalanche struck in the Lake Tahoe area on monday. The slide occurred on Carson Pass near Kirkwood Ski Resort. The snowboarder who triggered took it for a 500-foot ride, but lucky ended up on top of the slide without any injures.

Skinned out of Carson Pass today toward the sisters. Saw a lil couloir above round top lake on a North/North East aspect and decided to hike up it. My friend dropped in without cutting it, causing an avalanche that caught him and took him for a ride. It went on the old snow surface, didn’t propagate into the bottom layers or cause the slope /snow below to slide when it hit it. He wasn’t buried or injured in anyway and we consider ourselves Extremely Lucky!! I was going to do a pit profile on the avalanche but my friend had to work so we headed out. Wanted to warn all of our fellow snow friends especially with the upcoming storm and snow weight approaching for the snowpack. Thanks for keeping the community informed!

avalanche details:

Avalanche Type: Slab Trigger type: Snowboarder

Crown Height: Less than 1 ft

Aspect: North

Weak Layer: Storm Snow

Avalanche Width: 15ft.

Terrain: Above Treeline Elevation: 9 800ft.

Bed Surface: Old Snow

Avalanche Length: 500ft.

Number of people caught: 1

thanks to SIERRA AVALANCHE CENTER…you guys are incredible and do a public service that we all appreciate deeply.

Be careful out there. Get educated, take a class, practice, be prepared.