GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — The Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center (BTAC) reported that a group of skiers triggered a 150-foot avalanche on Jesus Jammy chute in the Teton Range on Wednesday, March 19.
A 75-foot-wide storm-slab was released at 9,200 feet at 2:50 p.m., carrying one of the skiers almost 200 hundred feet.
According to the BTAC observation, the group of skiers entered Jesus Jammy chute around 2:30 p.m., and skied one at a time down the upper third portion of the 40-degree slope. One of the skiers recounted to BTAC their decision-making prior to the slide event.
“We regrouped before entering the steeper and narrower terrain,” the skier told BTAC. “We skied one at a time to another regroup point before the chute splits directions. We planned to go skier’s left, an apron down to the skin track. The first skier entered the slope and made few turns when the slab released.”
BTAC wrote that the skier who was carried in the soft slab was mostly buried in the debris. The skier was able to “self-extricate” and was uninjured, per the observation. The avalanche debris ran past the skin track below the run.
“Evaluate steep terrain carefully, especially around cliffs, couloirs and other wind-loaded features,” the BTAC wrote in Thursday’s avalanche report. “Consider the consequences of getting caught and carried into unforgiving terrain.”
The BTAC forecast for Thursday, March 20, is moderate, but “heightened avalanche danger” exists in steep wind-loaded terrain. It is possible to trigger a large avalanche up to 2 feet thick in steep, wind-loaded slopes at upper elevations. Avalanches could break deeper than expected, per the report.
