At least six avalanches occurred on New Hampshire’s Mount Washington on Sunday, with four of them being triggered by humans and one resulting in injuries, according to a report from the Mount Washington Avalanche Center.
One of the avalanches was reportedly triggered by ranger Jeff Lane in The Lip as he attempted to collect snow stability information. Lane was caught in the debris and carried several hundred feet. Lane, who was uninjured, reported the debris pile was 3 to 4 feet deep and spread out more than 400 feet. Lane reported that he escaped harm not because of anything he did or didn’t do, but because he was “lucky.”
In another incident, a party of climbers traveled onto an unstable pocket, triggering an avalanche in South Gully. The lead climber suffered minor injuries.
According to Lane, current snow conditions on Mount Washington are a “recipe for instabilities.”