13-Foot-Deep, 3,300-Foot-Wide Monster Avalanche Kills Skier in India:

An avalanche measured to be D4 (Destructive Force 4 [out of 5] – could destroy a railway car, a house, a large truck, or a substantial amount of forest) with a 13-foot crown was triggered by a lone skier on February 12th, 2015.  That skier did not survive the avalanche.

This avalanche was 13-feet deep 3,300-feet wide, and ran all the way to the valley floor.

The size of this avalanche is difficult to fathom.  

The quotes below are from a person who saw this avalanche occur and who took these photos.

The Gulmarg ski area borders the Greater Himalaya and Karakoram mountain ranges. When things go bad here, they go bad in a big way. Yesterday a local skier triggered a D4 (freakin massive) avalanche just outside the controlled ski area. We watched it unravel from the gondola on our way up. The cloud was enormous. It left a four-meter high crown and ran to the ground for the entire length of the face (about a thousand meters). He didn’t stand a chance of survival.

Dozens had skied the face the day before. Wherever you are, ski safe out there. – Hage Photo

Here’s an overview of the massive (D4) avalanche that scoured the Hapat Khued bowl and took the life of the skier that triggered it earlier this week here in Gulmarg. This bowl lies outside the control boundaries of the Gulmarg ski area and is considered backcountry. Several other faces on Mount Apharwat showed similar instabilities. Taking into account the shear size of these mountains, it was a pretty frightening week to ski around here. – Hage Photo