Hyak Avalanched Today!!

HELLALUAJAH!

So much for the thursday pre-dawn hyak patrol.... always "safe" even during high avy conditions...

"Dear Mountain User:

Winter 2009 has encountered a problem and needs to shut down. All outings currently planned or underway will be terminated as your season reboots. Please be patient, as this may take several weeks."

--Macrosluff Technical Support



[hr]

More pictures on the NWAC site here:

www.nwac.us/photos/current/

Too bad about Norm's house (the brown house).
Nice guy, was enjoying a cup of coffee when it hit.
He's OK but the house is totaled.

By the time we heard about it the WSP had the place locked down tight.

more images from the DOT flickr page:

www.flickr.com/photos/wsdot/3177744097/i...t-72157612242253091/

In the NWAC pics you can see a slump in the ground below the crown in the snow. I don't exactly have a PhD in geomorphology but, it sure looks like the slope underneath gave way and brought all the snow with it. That ditch/creek running down the face of Hyak probably didn't help things.

Boy I sure had that fall line figured out all wrong. By the way not all high or extreme avy conditions are trigured by the same factors. This time we had lots of cold down deep instability followed by pineapple express, Does anyone know how much grooming took place on that slope if any?