Small Avalanche Hides its Own Evidence
The destabilization happened when extra snow piled on the destabilized layer. Even though there wasn’t snow that night, Katabatic winds, could have carried snow to just the wrong place. Katabatic winds are winds that blow down hills as gravity pulls higher density air downward, letting the lower density air rise. That snow would have accumulated just enough over time (hours, event) to cause a slab to roll down the hill.
Puzrin and Gaume ran simulations, finding the avalanche might not have been much more than a rush of snow and ice about 4.9 meters (16 feet). This was just enough to fill the pit dug by the Dyatlov group. It was covered by fresh snowfall before the search parties discovered the tent site 26 days later. The avalanche would have ‘disappeared’ without a trace.
