Avalanche: Cardiff Fork

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Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Cardiff Fork

Cardiff Fork - Catcher's Mitt - High Pocket

9,500'

Southeast

Skier

Wet Loose

Wet Snow

8"

50'

1,000'

We had a tough day skinning up an East / Southeast aspect in Cardiff Fork under the Catcher's Mitt. The snow was wet, warm and we found varying degrees of support on the skin track, punching a foot or more deep into faceted snow on our approach up. Temperatures were warm, we were aware of the mild overnight temps and we encountered wet snow that easily glopped up our skins. After a relatively uneventful and unenjoyable skin about 2500' from the valley floor, we ripped skins and transitioned. Two of us decided to ski a pitch to our North and traverse back to the East - Southeast to observe our third party member skiing fall line. After the short pitch to the North, we completed a quick traverse, stopped and communicated with our third party member that we were in a safe position to observe him ski. As we watched him ski into the East facing panel, we noticed a slowly spreading point release that had begun AFTER we traversed. We were looking up and to our right as this small point release developed behind us to our left. The third skier was well into the East facing panel when this point release had begun to entrain enough snow and speed to become a threat. The third skier very luckily recognized the point release gaining momentum, and safely skied out of harms way. Myself and another skier then observed the point release smash through the drainage below us. What made this event so scary for us was that the point release essentially developed behind us, while we were looking uphill, and turned into a heavy, dense avalanche before we had time to process the gravity of the situation.