Avalanche: Cottonwood Draw

Observer Name
Redd
Observation Date
Saturday, April 13, 2024
Avalanche Date
Saturday, April 13, 2024
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Cottonwood Draw
Location Name or Route
Cottonwood Draw
Elevation
9,400'
Aspect
South
Trigger
Skier
Depth
6"
Width
60'
Comments
We were skiing down the ridge just west of Monte Cristo Direct at 9:30 this morning and the second skier triggered a wet slab around 9400 feet. The surface had been firm on the way up, but apparently that was superficial and things were warm underneath. Conditions quickly went from crunchy on top to sloppy with no middle ground. The slab propagated around me both upslope and across slope, spreading quickly to about 60+ feet wide and then funneled over a small cliffy choke. The propagation was much quicker than I would have thought it to be, but thankfully the slab was slow to accelerate and gave me time to ski off to the side. Not super deep, but deep enough and heavy enough to command some respect.
Coordinates