Avalanche: Cornice Ridge, Big Cornice 11/23/2009

Observer Name:

Toby Weed

Observation Date:

11/23/2009

Occurrence Date:

11/23/2009

Occurrence Time:

11:30am

Region:

Cornice Ridge, Big Cornice
Tony Grove
Logan River
Logan

Location

41° 53' 29.5584" N, 111° 39' 42.3972" W

Avalanche Characteristics

Elevation:

9400'

Aspect:

North

Northeast

Slope Angle:

Trigger:

Skier

Trigger: additional info:

Intentionally Triggered

Unintentionally Triggered

Avalanche Type:

Hard Slab

Weak Layer:

Facets Above Crust

Depth (avg):

21"

Width:

300'

Vertical:

600'

Snow Profile

Snow Profile Comments:

Strong south and west winds over the weekend and yesterday built stiff slabs right on top of weak sugary faceted snow from last week's clear weather.

General Comments

I triggered this sizable wind slab avalanche while stomping along Cornice Ridge. Unintentional in that it was quite a bit larger and the slope much more sensitive than I expected...

General Comments 2

The avalanche was 1 to 2 feet deep and around 300 feet wide. The slab failed on a nice layer of faceted snow under the dusty layer from Friday night's wind. Most of the slab built with high winds on Sunday 11-22-09 and overnight.

General Comments 3

Darren McAvoy took this shot of me examining the scene.

General Comments 4

This is looking down the the chunk-filled path of the avalanche. The avalanche ran about 600 vertical feet down the the bench below the bowl.

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