Cool Oblique Lidar Image of Racehorse Slide by Washington DNR

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources has a set of new images derived from utilizing lidar (new-lidar-screensavers-of-washington). One of the images is the Racehorse Slide in Whatcom County which I very recently coincidentally posted on recently (first-description-of-racehorse-slide).   

The steepness of the upper part of the slide appears a bit exaggerated, but the imagery overlain on the lidar and aerial oblique views does provides a compelling image.

Within the news post associated with some other great images, there is a series of changing images of the Racehorse slide. I screen saved on that has labels added.

The slide is a complex slide associated with large scale dip slope failures and appears to consist of multiple failures. There are a number of these large scale dip slope failures in the Chuckanut Formation in Whatcom County and the scale and potential consequence is a bit disconcerting. The marked up image shows the Racehorse Creek landslide of 2009 that appears to have failed on the same bedding plain.

Images like this are a good wake up call to the potential hazards in our mountain valleys. This slide could use a bit more study and understanding.