Avalanche: Figure 8 Bowl

Observer Name
B
Observation Date
Tuesday, January 16, 2024
Avalanche Date
Sunday, January 14, 2024
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Brighton Perimeter » Figure 8 Bowl
Location Name or Route
Figure 8 Bowl/Speedo Chute
Elevation
10,200'
Aspect
Northeast
Slope Angle
Unknown
Trigger
Natural
Avalanche Type
Hard Slab
Avalanche Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Weak Layer
Facets
Depth
4"
Width
1,000'
Vertical
700'
Snow Profile Comments
The avalanche extended from the top of 1000 Turn Gully on the rider's left steep side wall wrapping all the around to the north through Figure 8 Bowl and Speedo's chute. Crown Profile indicated the weak layer being 15 cm's of 1mm facets, and it ran on an old Wind Crust bedsurface where these facets interfaced with this Knife hard surface. The average crown depth was 3 feet and at least 4 feet deep in the Speedo Chute area. Of note: The runout ran to it's historic length well into the flats where most people skin up. Size: D3. The debris piled up to at least 3 meters in some places and there were chunks of debris that were at least1.5 tall and 2 meters wide.
Observations of the Wolverine Cirque appeared to indicate that it went Wall to Wall from the Sythe to Patsy Marley early in the Cycle as those crowns and debris piles were covered well. Of Note, the picture appears to indicate that the Rocky Cliff Area between Bombay and the THC Chute ran either on Sunday or early Monday morning.
Of Note: Pattern observed in this region appeared to generally include Steep/Rocky areas that were housing shallow weak snow prior to the recent large/windy event.
Coordinates