Avalanche Counterargument
The science of snow slab or small avalanche could logically explain the “compelling natural event” that forced the sudden evacuation. Fear of another, possibly larger avalanche would explain why they would want to get far away from the site even though they lacked proper protection against the elements. A small snow slide could explain how some of their skis and an ice axe (the small, swordlike item between the vertical skis in the photo) remained upright after the event. If there wasn’t much snow, but enough to frighten the group, the hole dug for tent may have absorbed the most of the snow and impact. But Puzrin and Gaum are very clear that their research focused exclusively on the science of snow movement itself, and did not try to explain what happened afterwards. This leaves more questions.