An avalanche at Mammoth Mountain caught skiers by surprise Friday. Thankfully reports indicate that no one was injured by the slide.

The slide took place around noon on the Wipe Out Chutes. This run on the upper mountain is, located on the north side of Chair 23.

Sierra Wave’s Cleland Hoff was quickly on scene. She spoke with a skier who was
on Chair 23 and he said people on the chairlift began shouting to skiers and
boarders on the run.

Hoff later talked to a man who said he was on the actual run when he heard the shouts from the chairlift. The man, Greg Little of Los Angeles, said he and other skiers quickly skied downhill and to the side to get out of the way. He also took refuge under a series of rocks. He described seeing a wall of snow rushing at him, but Little said he didn’t believe anyone was caught in the slide.

Normally avalanches are a bigger problem for back-country skiers, but this is not the first avalanche to threaten skiers at the ski area this year. The Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center website reports another avalanche at the ski area two weeks ago right after the first major storm of the season. This earlier avalanche caught two skiers, and lead to one man being partially buried on the run known as P3.


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