Observer Name
Tom
Observation Date
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Avalanche Date
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Cardiff Bowl
Location Name or Route
Cardiff Bowl/Hangnail
Elevation
9,700'
Aspect
East
Slope Angle
33°
Trigger
Skier
Trigger: additional info
Intentionally Triggered
Avalanche Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Weak Layer
Density Change
Depth
5"
Width
30'
Vertical
100'
Comments
Not a big slide by any stretch of the imagination. Occurred along the traverse from Cardiff Bowl towards East Hellgate (looks to be called the Hangnail on the WBS site), reported to Alta Central out of an abundance of caution. Looked like the NE/E wind had crossloaded a little terrain feature, ski cut the top of it and it went. Hand pits on the way up revealed a density inversion in the top several inches of snow, thinking from wind, but maybe the tail end of the storm came in a little heavier. This was the only layer that was reactive. Otherwise was able to isolate a column, and the storm snow from yesterday seemed to be settling and bonding ok with the old surface crust.
No photo, flat light and low clouds.
Coordinates