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2025 Archive Index - All Editions

Buried in an avalanche for over 12 hours

Ski photographer Txema Trull and his partner were buried beneath six feet of snow near Las Leñas Ski Resort in Argentina. Here is Trull's story in his own words. [The date of this avalanche is not specified.]

We woke up to a jolting impact against the tent wall, and we were pushed by a relentless river of snow that tossed and churned us as we struggled to free our arms from our sleeping bags. The roof of the tent caved in and squeezed against our bodies as it dragged underneath a massive avalanche. When it all finally stopped and the basin went silent once again, we couldn’t move our bodies from the waist down. My arms were just loose enough to keep an air pocket open.
Source ... (Outside Online)

Inbounds Avalanche Caught on Webcam

At approximately 1:00 p.m. Tuesday, a rockslide triggered an inbounds avalanche at Mammoth Mountain, California, beneath Starr Chute on the northeast portion of the resort’s terrain, according to Mammoth Mountain. Mammoth Mountain patrollers visited the scene of the slide immediately and conducted a search using transceivers, Recco, avalanche rescue dogs, and probes, the resort said, adding that this search confirmed eyewitness reports that no skiers or snowboarders were in the area at the time of the avalanche.

The avalanche was caught on footage by Mammoth Mountain’s Main Lodge web camera. Check the source below to watch footage of the slide.
Source ... (Powder)

Avalanche Closes Highway 99 north of Pemberton, B.C.

Highway 99 north of Pemberton has reopened to single lane alternating traffic after an avalanche buried the roadway in snow on Tuesday. DriveBC says the avalanche hazard in the area of the roadway that is 36 km north of Pemberton to 39 km south of Lillooet remains high.

The Ministry of Transportation told CBC News it was notified of the avalanche just before 6 p.m. on Tuesday. In a statement Wednesday, the ministry said it had performed a heli-bombing operation to release any remaining material in a controlled manner. The ministry said that with warmer temperatures and precipitation forecast overnight, more avalanche activity was possible.

The source, linked below, has some photos of the very large debris left blocking the road.
Source ... (CBC)

Swiss Study Details Evolution of Avalanche Risks in 21st Century

A groundbreaking new study by Swiss researchers offers the most detailed look yet at how climate change could reshape avalanche risk across the Alps but also globally. Published in Natural Hazards, the paper, authored by scientists from the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF and ETH Zurich, uses high-resolution models to examine avalanche danger in painstaking local detail—down to the impact on individual buildings.

The study zeroes in on Uri, a mountainous canton in central Switzerland known for its steep slopes and heavy snowfall. The researchers created a digital simulation of avalanche hazards under current and future climate scenarios. They modeled avalanche pressure, snowpack temperature, and accumulation across three timeframes: present-day (1997–2022), mid-century (2048–2073), and late-century (2073–2098).
Source ... (Snowbrains)

Large Inbounds Avalanche Crystal Mountain, WA

A destructive slide was naturally triggered after ski resort operating hours.

Rapid warming can cause some pretty big issues and instabilities in the snowpack, which was the case at Crystal Mountain, WA this week. Ski patrollers temporarily closed the resort's upper mountain on Wednesday evening, March 26, 2025, due to concerns over the snowpack, and it was a good thing they did.

A natural slide occurred on 'The Throne', a zone accessible via a short traverse and hike from Chair 6, around 7:30pm later that night. The terrain was closed at the time and no one was caught or buried in it. Although no official report has been published on the specs of the slide, it's safe to say it was absolutely massive. "Over the past few days, we’ve been in our regular spring cycle of natural slides and snowpack instability due to rapid warming," read a post on Crystal Mountain's social media. The avalanche crown was between 3 and 5 feet high, according to a Crystal Mountain official.

Chair 6 was destroyed by a massive wet-slab avalanche that was triggered with an explosive back in 2014. The avalanche sheered across the entire bowl, including 'The Throne'. The destruction was widespread and the chair was forced to be rebuilt from the ground up.
Source ... (Powder)