Dog Mt avalanche buries Highway SR14

[Chip Down]

I found this interesting. Is this unusual? I don't recall seeing this sort of thing in the gorge.
The story says it's close to Dog Mt, but from the picture I'd say it was right on Dog Mt, less than a mile east of the main DM trailhead.

http://katu.com/news/local/sr-14-reopen ... nts-of-ice

[romann]

That's pretty surprising (both the location and the size of it) - not a place I'd expect an avalanche, lots of trees. Too large to be just a collapsed cornice. Also I recall that big avalanche at Santiam Pass last month, not a wide open slope by any means.

[Koda]

As a backcountry skier this is an interesting phenomenon I’ve been following for years. Every avalanche training I’ve had warns that avalanches can and do happen in trees… yet little information is available about this and none are recorded that I’ve seen.

So in my own research and conversations with avalanche students, I have learned that the few avalanches that do happen in trees are in actuality relative to ones definition of “in trees”. My observations ski cutting in unstable conditions show releases in pockets of snow that are minorly exposed to the sky (small clearings, open spaced timber, and mostly storm slabs releases) ….or any evidence of debris within treed areas is a result of the toe end of a runout zone that happened above the treed area. The latter is the biggest concern and thus, entirely possible in the cliffy areas around Dog and Wind mountain. The only thing uncommon here is this years lower elevation snowfall of significant amounts to actually build up some unstable layers, otherwise this incident would be more common. The terrain there has every symptom of instability.

[Don Nelsen]

This looks like a large amount of graupel/ice pellets to me. I think the run-out angle is wrong. Also, if this were an avalanche, there would be at least some imbedded debris. Formations like this can happen very quickly with such a huge collection area above. Here's a short video from my drive along the old scenic highway just east of Multnomah Falls last Sunday showing just this effect. The Hwy dept. used a rotary snowplow to take care of these accumulations.

https://youtu.be/SPfKPPKBGn4

[romann]

OK just got intel from a coworker (he'a also volunteer first responder in Stevenson), it was at Wind Mtn, not Dog Mtn. The avalanche was 14 ft thick at uphill side.

[Peder]

This looks like a large amount of graupel/ice pellets to me. I think the run-out angle is wrong. Also, if this were an avalanche, there would be at least some imbedded debris. Formations like this can happen very quickly with such a huge collection area above.

Very good point Don!

[Koda]

OK just got intel from a coworker (he'a also volunteer first responder in Stevenson), it was at Wind Mtn, not Dog Mtn. The avalanche was 14 ft thick at uphill side.

does he have any more information to share, Don may have a good point, I didn't think about that this could just be a news reporter calling it an avalanche when its just an extra large snowdrift. I cant really tell from the photo, it could be either way.

[Don Nelsen]

OK just got intel from a coworker (he'a also volunteer first responder in Stevenson), it was at Wind Mtn, not Dog Mtn. The avalanche was 14 ft thick at uphill side.

does he have any more information to share, Don may have a good point, I didn't think about that this could just be a news reporter calling it an avalanche when its just an extra large snowdrift. I cant really tell from the photo, it could be either way.

These types of formations are common when conditions are right. I was on the hwy east of Multnomah Falls today and there are some that extended all the way across the road and are still not entirely cleared. Here's a photo of one that is over fifteen feet high. It was over the top of the guard rail on the left before removal operations began.


The Eagle Creek Trail, BTW, is not passible unless you either have a death wish or use an ice axe and have mountaineering crampons, IMO. A continuous stretch of the type of ice in the above photo covers the trail for as far as I could see. I kicked steps for a ways but I did not bring my ice axe and wasn't willing to risk a dip in the creek. - I'm such a wuss!!

[Chip Down]

OK just got intel from a coworker (he'a also volunteer first responder in Stevenson), it was at Wind Mtn, not Dog Mtn. The avalanche was 14 ft thick at uphill side.

I hesitated to reply, because I don't want to be that jerk who always has to be right on the internet, but I'm pretty sure that's Dog Mountain. There's a feature in one of the KATU pics that's consistent with Dog Spine, and another feature that's consistent with the peak east of Dog Creek Falls. I don't think there are corresponding features on Wind that would match up to those points in the KATU pic. I spent quite a bit of time on Dog and Wind in recent months, exploring various off-trail scrambling routes, so I like to think I know the mountains well.

[Eric Peterson]

OK just got intel from a coworker (he'a also volunteer first responder in Stevenson), it was at Wind Mtn, not Dog Mtn. The avalanche was 14 ft thick at uphill side.

does he have any more information to share, Don may have a good point, I didn't think about that this could just be a news reporter calling it an avalanche when its just an extra large snowdrift. I cant really tell from the photo, it could be either way.

These types of formations are common when conditions are right. I was on the hwy east of Multnomah Falls today and there are some that extended all the way across the road and are still not entirely cleared. Here's a photo of one that is over fifteen feet high. It was over the top of the guard rail on the left before removal operations began.


The Eagle Creek Trail, BTW, is not passible unless you either have a death wish or use an ice axe and have mountaineering crampons, IMO. A continuous stretch of the type of ice in the above photo covers the trail for as far as I could see. I kicked steps for a ways but I did not bring my ice axe and wasn't willing to risk a dip in the creek. - I'm such a wuss!!

Guess my Sunday Eagle Creek plans are scrapped now! Wow...