13 foot crown on an Alpine Meadows Avalanche

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Insane

so alpine was closed today and wouldnt release any information on why they closed.
The recent storms the past two weeks that hit the resort all came with serious wind. And for those of you that dont know, but Ward Peak, which is the top of alpine meadows, holds the west coast wind speed record. So its a windy place with lots of snow, and all that wind load resulted in a large avalanche last night that was observed with a 13 foot crown! wowy, thats pretty big. For those of you that dont know, avalanche danger is the reason that proposals to make hotels and lodges have been denied at alpine meadows.
Thank god that wasnt during the day.

Feb 3 2008 8:17PM

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Tinga

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Crazy Fool

whats a crown? and im from the midwest so i have no idea

Feb 3 2008 8:19PM

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skier_boy26

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Crazy Fool

Its basically the top fracture of the avalanche. It kind of creates a perpendicular cut. so a 13 ft crown essentially means a top fracture 13ft deep, also known as BIG AS FUCK

Feb 3 2008 8:22PM

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alpineplease

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The avalanche was apparently on Alpine Road. There was something like 35 feet of snow across it at some points. Im not sure exactly where, but I would guess it was on the road where it flattens out before the five lakes trailhead (on the way up). I guess those people have to get new garages, again.

Feb 3 2008 8:22PM

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P.J.S.

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Insane

When one layer of snow releases from the layer/s below. The wall of snow that remains after a layer has slid is the crown.

[IMG]http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0S0202laKZHo28BKl6jzbkF/SIG=13bthtiji/EXP=1202174501/**http%3A//www.avalanche.org/~uac/photos/Images03-04/1-1-04-Mendon/images/S.MendonCrown.jpg[/IMG]

Feb 3 2008 8:23PM

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colin13

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thats rediculous! good thing that didnt happen during the day.

Feb 3 2008 8:26PM

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Bentley@DOSMedia

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Insane

Here is an AP write up on it... its 12 feet sorry, haha still insane. Dont think it was as bad as the one in 1982 that destroyed the lodge and such....
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jW-BndswWuhgPAPXOK4Q6TCQsANQD8UJ47HO0

Feb 3 2008 8:27PM

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Bentley@DOSMedia

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http://http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jW-BndswWuhgPAPXOK4Q6TCQsANQD8UJ47HO0

Feb 3 2008 8:28PM

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Freezeskier

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Ridiculous

12ft fracture thats huuuuuuuuuuge.

Feb 3 2008 8:37PM

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TWoods

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Crazy Fool

that's a crown

Feb 4 2008 12:06PM

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The_Oakley_Kid

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holy shit

Feb 4 2008 12:27PM

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dave...

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Insane

yeah thats not the first big avalanche to hit alpine, in 1982, a massive avalanche killed a bunch of people and took out the entire main lodge:

http://www.avalanche.org/~moonstone/TAR/avi%20review%20articles/1Conflict%20in%20Time.htm

Feb 4 2008 12:36PM

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Campeador

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Crazy Fool

Its a good thing they don't get all those hotels thanks to this otherwise Alpine would be ruined like Northstar. Northstar used to be such a chill spot but this year I've already come close to 2 fights with all the fucking gaypers that show up there now. I'm not buying a pass to northstar next season. Fuck Alpine's new management, I hope all those guys who did away with the college pass and decided to raise the price to $900 get caught under an avalanche.

Feb 4 2008 1:25PM

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puhiS

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Loner

scary shit ill quit pow skiing....

Feb 4 2008 1:31PM

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SnowMedic

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I also heard that there has been 3 skiers missing from alpine since sat. morning.

Feb 4 2008 1:51PM

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Bentley@DOSMedia

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Insane

haha i totally agree with you on all that.
except i havnt bothered with northstar for two years.
I cant believe they raised the prices like they did at alpine.
I actually got a job there so i could get a free pass and half off food.
the nice thing is, ive worked only once and my pass still works. haha, their management right now is horrible though.

And yes two skiers are missing, but no result of the slide.

Feb 4 2008 2:30PM

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alpineplease

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Im not sure if you guys knew this.. but powdr corp was suffocating in debt... those cheap college passes we really took advantage of werent doing shit for the business itself.... this new compnay that bought homewood and alpine (i didnt know this for a while) arent money hungry college aged kid haters, but rather they are trying to make enough revenue for 'future additions.' what does that mean, im not sure, but from what is rumored.... shiiiiitttt. this is the first year i afford to buy a pass to alpine in the past 14

Feb 4 2008 2:38PM

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K.C.Deane

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Insane

Man I saw that crown today , holy shit!!! its def the biggest one ive ever seen, and the section of road where the avalanche hit was reCOCKulous. the walls on the side of the road were 20 feet easy.

Feb 4 2008 5:07PM

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sosteezy848

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damn thats crazy, wish the east coast could get some storms strong enough to create a 5inch crown, but no its 50 degrees and raining

Feb 4 2008 5:15PM

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tahoeskier.

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they found those two skiers. about 7 miles away from alpine near hell hole reservoir. they must have froze their asses off, it's been so cold. but they only sustained small areas of frostbite on their body. they credit the discovery channel for their survival techniques.

Feb 4 2008 9:00PM

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Alex_G

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whaaaaaat?? thats ridiculous i mainly ride at alpine

Feb 4 2008 9:03PM

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keystoner1

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pictures?

Feb 4 2008 10:03PM

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jex

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yeah video or it didn't happen

Feb 5 2008 12:53AM

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DJSTEVEINNIAMIXX

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Insane

Holy crap ,thank god no one got killed. how steep was the hill?

Feb 5 2008 12:57AM

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Bentley@DOSMedia

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haha jex go see for yourself. its right off the road near where that guy is trying to build that private lift.

and im not sure how steep the slope was. at least 40 degrees for sure.

KC dude you went to alpine without telling me! ahh not fair, ha i went to blackwood and fucking wrecked my sled into a tree then flipped off and watch it hit another tree below.

Feb 5 2008 1:05AM

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three6steeze

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Ridiculous

the 1982 slide had a pretty similar crown height but it was over a mile long so that makes apretty fucking big difference. And 7 people died in the 1982 slide one of them was my uncle.

Anywho its amazing that none of the houses on alpine meadows road ( they are literally right in the slide paths) have not been destroyed, i dont know why they were ever built there.

Feb 5 2008 2:16AM

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cobra_commander

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Post Whore

I take it you mean 13ft deep not 13ft wide. But yeah 13ft deep is insane. (keeping in mind that a few inches is enough to kill some one) thats a lot of snow, how wide was it?

Feb 5 2008 2:26AM

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Campeador

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Crazy Fool

Well I would think they would be better making money off of selling more passes for a cheaper price than having many people turn to other places for their passes and selling far less. Its simple economics. I'm sorry but $900 is ridiculous, I might as well throw down a little more and get another pass to Squaw. There's no reason to screw over the loyal young adult grassroots. Is the Alpine park even legit this year?

Feb 5 2008 3:11AM

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shralpingthegnar

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Loner

That slide was big covering the road and thus closing the ski area, the snow on the side of the road where they cleared the slide are over twenty feet high in snow

Feb 5 2008 3:42AM

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nohajs

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Loner

Sorry to rain on your story, but the debris was 12 feet tall on the road. The crown was about 3-4 feet and about 200 feet long. It slid twice at night naturally, then they bombed it to get those results.

The lesson of the story is:
Don't drive Alpine rd. at night without your beacon.
Garage doors don't stand up to avy debris.
If you get lost on the backside walk back to where you came from. Don't just keep going aimlessly.

Feb 5 2008 11:05AM

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three6steeze

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Ridiculous

I dont know the last time you went to alpile kid but its more then 3-4 feet, it is about 200 feet long though.

Your right though, dont drive alpine meadows road when its loaded without a beacon.

Feb 5 2008 11:34AM

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