Avalanche
This avalanche was triggered by a backcountry skier. The skier luckily was on the edge of the avalanche and was able to grab a rock and stay out of the avalanche. This avalanche was HUGE at 500m (1,600′) wide and rated at class 3.5 (Could bury a car, destroy a small building, or break trees).
It smashed through the thick ice of Lake Alta. This avalanche went straight into the terrain trap of Lake Alta.
This avalanche occurred just outside the boundaries of The Remarkables ski resort yesterday.
This avalanche was reportedly triggered by a group of guides:
“A warning has been issued to people skiing and hiking back country areas after a group of guides triggered an avalanche behind The Remarkables ski field near Queenstown on Monday.
The Remarkables ski area manager Ross Lawrence said the experienced group set off a “little shoot” earlier and on a second pass later in the day realised a bigger avalanche measuring about 80 metres wide and running about 90m had occurred.
Lawrence said it was important to talk to mountain officials before venturing outside the ski area boundary as they had a “pretty good idea” of conditions.” – Stuff.co.nz
Please be safe out there and always check the avalanche report.
“This happened yesterday at The Remarkables, just outside the resort boundary. A 500 metre wide level 3.5 totally unsurvivable avalanche that smashed through thick ice on Lake Alta. It was triggered remotely by a skier just to one side of it. Many people had ridden this terrain that day before the event, how it did not trigger when one of those insanely lucky people were on it is hard to understand. Take one minute and read the avalanche advisory on your phone: http://avalanche.net.nz/” – Pete Oswald, Treble Cone ski resort, NZ ambassdor
Over the years, I have seen a fair bit of movement in that zone. It goes from a South facing aspect in the Alta Chutes like Elevator but traversing over into Exterminator/Intimidator (where this occurred) transitions into a more Northerly aspect and gets a fair bit of sun.