Avalanche: Back Bowls

Observer Name
Craig Gordon
Observation Date
Monday, January 28, 2013
Avalanche Date
Monday, January 28, 2013
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Brighton Perimeter » Back Bowls
Location Name or Route
Milly Back Bowl
Elevation
9,800'
Aspect
Northwest
Slope Angle
37°
Trigger
Skier
Trigger: additional info
Unintentionally Triggered
Avalanche Type
Hard Slab
Avalanche Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Weak Layer
Facets
Depth
3'
Width
80'
Vertical
70'
Comments

Breaking trail to the Milly Back Bowl. Within about 50' snow characteristics changed from fist snow over January facets, to 4 finger snow over January facets, to 1 finger snow over... you guessed it.... January facets. When I felt the slab increase in resistance I knew it wasn't the place to be. I heard a faint collapse, saw the new storm snow buckle, and straight lined it onto low angle adjacent terrain.

My first thought was that no one would believe that I actually straight-lined anything and without any pictures, video, or documentation that still may be suspect.

My second thought was... I should've read my own forecast which mentioned this exact thing. Fortunately I reacted quickly once I realized I was pulling the dogs tail too hard. However, in hind sight I should've never been teasing it in the first place. Spacial variability is a crazy thing and given the current snowpack structure I think it'll become more of a player in the next few days.

I'm psyched I can reflect on this lapse of judgment while I finish off my slice of humble pie.

Coordinates