White River Snowshoe and an Epic Avalanche 042523

[Don Nelsen]

This was to be a rather pedestrian hike but as we progressed up the White River a very unusual sight caught our attention: An avalanche! It appeared to have happened very recently, perhaps as recently as the past weekend when there was a heavy rain event that could have triggered it. The Snotel site nearby recorded a period of above freezing temperatures for the 21st to the 23rd and about three inches of precipitation over that time. Enough, apparently, to trigger this avalanche.

The slide went down the west branch of the White River canyon from the White River Glacier and ended under the powerlines to the Meadows ski area. The genesis, apparently, from a huge slab below a cornice about a third of a mile ESE of Silcox Hut at about 6,800' elevation. The final runout is at 4,650' elevation. Distance between these two points is about 2.3 miles as near as we could determine.

Once as far up-canyon as we could get without going out onto the slide, (Kel didn't want any part of that!) I decided to trek out onto the ice and do some exploring. I made my way, with some difficulty, along the top of the slide for 3/4 miles until I reached its terminus, recording what I saw. This was a fun adventure but now I have a major sunburn to deal with! My bad!

3.5 miles, 781' EG. Hike #46 for the year.

A few photos of the adventure:













The final run-out




The White River emerging from underneath.

[Charley]

That is HUGE.

My ski buddy and I saw the slides on that east-aspect slope all the way from Bonney Butte yesterday. From the size of the crown, it looked like a massive one. It's a creepy feeling, seeing the track all the way down into the flats- that's an area where people ski and snowshoe regularly without a care. The long track reminds me of the occasional long slides down into Heather Canyon.

If you're interested, here are some more photos from a public observation on NWAC:
https://nwac.us/public-obs/22488/#&gid=1&pid=5

[johnspeth]

You captured the rare aftermath of huge event. And you got great pics, including the starting zone near where I was "lunching" while waiting to start my ski run on the west edge of White River canyon that same day.

Now it makes sense what I was seeing far below. I remember seeing a long ribbon of not-snow that didn't seem to belong in the scene. It was quite far away. I couldn't peek over the edge into the canyon due to the huge cornices. I had no idea what was (wasn't) below.

You might want to relate your experience to the NW Avalanche Center. They collect data like this (so they say). You might even find they already know and inform you more (like when).

Thanks.

[Don Nelsen]

If you're interested, here are some more photos from a public observation on NWAC:
https://nwac.us/public-obs/22488/#&gid=1&pid=5

Charley,

Thanks for the response and for the info. Looks like this was reported on Sunday. Here's a link to my own site with more photos and captions:
https://donnelsen.org/2023/04/

[Don Nelsen]

You captured the rare aftermath of huge event. And you got great pics, including the starting zone near where I was "lunching" while waiting to start my ski run on the west edge of White River canyon that same day.

Now it makes sense what I was seeing far below. I remember seeing a long ribbon of not-snow that didn't seem to belong in the scene. It was quite far away. I couldn't peek over the edge into the canyon due to the huge cornices. I had no idea what was (wasn't) below.

You might want to relate your experience to the NW Avalanche Center. They collect data like this (so they say). You might even find they already know and inform you more (like when).

Thanks.

John,

Thanks for the compliment and info. I checked the NW Avalanche site and this was reported Sunday.

Did you get any photos that showed the other side of the canyon that I couldn't see from where I was? I wonder if that big slab that broke off triggered more slides on the opposite side. That might explain the huge volume of the slide.