Avalanche: Upper Weber Canyon 12/8/2010

Observer Name: 
Adolphson/Gordon
Observation Date: 
12/08/2010
Occurrence Date: 
12/08/2010
Occurrence Time: 
Afternoon
Region: 
Upper Weber Canyon
Uintas
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Location

40° 50' 46.6116" N, 111° 3' 46.8828" W
Avalanche Characteristics
Elevation: 
10500'
Aspect: 
North
Slope Angle: 
37
Trigger: 
Unknown
Trigger: additional info: 
Unintentionally Triggered
Remotely Triggered
Avalanche Type: 
Hard Slab
Weak Layer: 
Facets
Depth (avg): 
3'
Depth Range: 
12" to
4'
Width: 
500'
Vertical: 
800'
General Comments

This large, remotely triggered hard slab avalanche was initiated from the ridge in a shallow portion of the snowpack on a heavily wind loaded north facing slope at about 10,500' in elevation.

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General Comments 2

The arrows in this picture show how shooting cracks are a huge indicator to unstable snow. As the crack shoots out,  it rapidly propagates to the other side of the bowl.

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General Comments 3

All of this occurred rather rapidly, but Johnny Adolphson's steady hand captures the event.

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General Comments 4

The slide ran well into the flats, stacking up a huge pile of body crushing debris. This avalanche helps exemplify what we've been talking about the past few days. Tricky avalanche conditions exist! While avalanches may be getting harder to trigger, the consequences are devastating.

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