Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Avalanche on the North Fork Lone Pine Creek

This reported April 22, 2017, on the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center website.

Avalanche on Mt Whitney Mountaineers Route

Reported at 9300' elevation, puts it in the canyon below Lower Boy Scout Lake, about the elevation of the Ebersbacher Ledges. Form the picture, it appears the slide came down into the canyon from the north-facing slope above the canyon.

Type: Wet Loose Point-release     Slope: 45 degrees     Crown Height: 1 ft.     Aspect: North
Avalanche Width: 100 ft     Avalanche Length: 500 ft     Partial burials: 2

More info:
Estimated R2-3, D2 avalanche in the initial gully of the mountaineers route up mt Whitney. Location 1.3 miles from trailhead parking, elevation 9300 ft. We encountered several groups who had been partially buried in the slide. Large 2 ft deep by 25 ft square ice boulders carried by slide. Several injuries, one requiring helicopter evacuation. Cause determined to be warning rock and running water at the base of the snowpack creating a perfect bed surface. Extremely warm conditions at around noon; guess of around 50-55 F air temps when we got there.

Two pictures: click on the pic for enlarged view

This shows the rescue helicopter, with its stretcher hoist mounted.
 

Note to reporters: this was NOT on the Mountaineer's Route. This was on the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek, the approach to the the Mountaineer's Route and a dozen or two other routes on and around the east face of Whitney.

I saw the aftermath of this avalanche later in the day.

The avy observation is correct - we were actually sitting at the Pizza Factory next to the party who wrote and posted the report that evening.

We were lucky that we hiked through this section at 5 AM, when it was still cold. The avy happened in late morning, a few hours of warming after the sunrise.

From what I heard, the slide came down near a party of four. There was one person partially buried and injured his foot/leg. A party of two were able to shield themselves behind a large boulder, and then came out to dig up the buried victim. Another party came along (there were 5 of them I believe, they wrote the avy report) and stayed with the injured person until the rescue chopper picked him up around 530 PM. A SAR ground team also came to help. That is a long time to wait to be extracted - keep that in mind when planning your outings!

The North Fork of Lone Pine Creek has very steep rock walls on both sides between 9000-10000 feet. It's a huge terrain trap and the slabs aren't going to hold the snow much longer as the days get warmer and the nights are not cold enough for refreezing below 9000-10000 feet or so. There is water running between the rock and the snow on top of it, undermining the snow and creating a layer of lubrication. Point releases and wet slides were prevalent below, at, and above treeline, on all aspects.

Everyone was lucky on Saturday - this could have happened to any of us. When going out in these conditions, please wear a beacon, probe, shovel, and first aid gear - and know how to use all of these things! Take an avalanche class and Outdoor Emergency Care (OEC) or Wilderness First Aid course.


The slide path and debris. The avalanche crown is visible on the right side of the dark rock in the center. That entire rock was covered in snow/ice that slid.



Size of debris ranged from microwave- to refrigerator-sized chunks

On our way down on Sunday around 4:45pm we witnessed an other, smaller avalanche (about 30ft wide and 1ft deep) just 100 ft above the one that injured the guy on Saturday. The snow above the canyon seemed very unstable with water coming down everywhere. Please be careful if you decide to skip the ledges.

Calicokat fell through a snow bridge on the N. Fork Gully a few weeks back. His feet snagged on some willows keeping him from being sucked under the snow into the creek. Lilbitmo helped extract Calico.

Unsurprisingly, it seems that this big snow year has made Whitney all the more treacherous this season.

Stay safe or wait until the snow melts folks.

CHP posted a video of the avalanche rescue:

https://www.facebook.com/276737786013059/videos/442622306091272/

My friend Sarah sent me this article, written by Bob Rockwell in 2006 and extremely relevant, especially this season. Circle number 2 on the second page is exactly where this avy occurred.

http://www.californiamountaineer.net/WhitneyAvalancheAvoidance04282006.pdf

Bob R first wrote and posted that on the Whitney Portal Store forum, but it got so much flak from trolls and such that he took it down. I am glad it is still available. Bob R doesn't get out anymore, which is a huge loss.

One place that is missed on that map is the area just south of Iceberg Lk. A number of years ago a group reported being buried inside their tent during the night while camped there during a storm. Several were in the tent, and one ended up on top of the other. Top man wasn't buried too much, so once he got free, that provided a passage for the one well underneath to get out!