Avalanche: Little Water

Observer Name
lara kendall
Observation Date
Friday, January 16, 2015
Avalanche Date
Friday, January 16, 2015
Region
Salt Lake » Mill Creek Canyon » Little Water
Location Name or Route
Little Water Peak
Elevation
9,500'
Aspect
Northeast
Slope Angle
39°
Trigger
Skier
Trigger: additional info
Remotely Triggered
Avalanche Type
Hard Slab
Avalanche Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Weak Layer
New Snow/Old Snow Interface
Depth
18"
Width
50'
Vertical
300'
Comments

We reached the top of Little Water Peak shortly after noon today. The wind was blowing out of the SW and loading the high northerly facing terrain. We approached the N ridge to try to get out of the direct wind and gear up for our decent. The top was completely wind stripped so we came onto the ridge from the west, just lower than the peak. The weight of us (three skiers) was enough to remotely trigger the wind slab about 50ft down the ridge from where we stood. Shooting cracks came up the ridge to our feet. I'm estimating it was about 50ft wide and 1-2ft deep. Light was flat and we didnt have a good view of the entire slide from the ridge. Sorry, no photos.

We skied down the ridge a little and another small NE facing pocket pulled out. The slope was not steep enough for it to run far (maybe 40 feet), but solid evidence of the wind loading that was occurring!! Photo of second pocket below.

Coordinates