Below are some pictures taken last weekend from what is believed to be the first avalanche ever recorded at Wisp Ski Resort. While it's certainly not on the same scale as other avalanches out west it is certainly bizarre to believe that one can happen here in western Maryland of all places. But for those of you that don't own real estate or live here full time the weather in Garrett County can be quite different compared to other nearby areas. When it's raining in Pittsburgh or Washington D.C. it's usually snowing here at Deep Creek Lake. Our temperatures usually run 5-8 degrees cooler than neighboring areas. The previous week this area got about 18 inches of natural snowfall and the Wisp was continually making snow because the temperatures never climbed out of the 20's. Don't worry though; there really isn't an avalanche danger at Wisp. This one was probably caused when a large pile of artificial snow broke loose when a few unauthorized backpackers/skiers were taking advantage of the winter like weather. The Wisp does officially open the season this Friday, November 28th.
Credit for these pictures must go to a user named FlyinGuitar08 from the Teton Gravity Research Forums.
And here is a video of the Wisp avalanche that was recently uploaded to YouTube. For those of you not aware, the Face ski slope is on the left in this video and the slope on the right is Squirrel Cage.
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