Rising heat leads to two avalanches

Searing temperatures on dense mountain snow have spurred snowfall in the San Gabriel Mountains, and not the pretty kind.

Two avalanches, one of them 50 yards wide and several feet deep, slid down the middle of Baldy Bowl, a spot north of Claremont frequented by backcountry skiers and snowboarders. No one was hurt.

The slides, which occurred Saturday, appear to have been triggered by human activity, according to reports from Sierra Club ski mountaineers.

“We had to ski around some of the huge chunks left over from the slide, but otherwise, conditions were phenomenal,” said Walt Davie of Mar Vista.

Falling blocks of ice and snow can be hazardous and render places unskiable.

Dangerous spots remain on shady slopes and near trees, though no warnings have been issued. Icy conditions contributed to at least eight fatalities on local mountains in December and January.

“The potential is there for danger with snow sliding in the ice chutes. People have to be prepared for what they’re going to do,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy David Smail.

A heat wave following storms that dumped heavy snow across local mountains turned the best powder in three years into a sticky corn snow in less than a week.

High temperatures at Mount Wilson soared from 44 degrees on March 1 to 75 on March 7, according to the National Weather Service.

Icy, wind-blown conditions persist on area summits such as 10,064-foot Mount San Antonio, while lower slopes have softened, especially sun-soaked slopes facing west and south.

-- Emmett Berg