Observer Name
Vic Heilweil
Observation Date
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Avalanche Date
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » White Pine » Red Baldy
Location Name or Route
red baldy
Elevation
9,700'
Aspect
Northwest
Slope Angle
35°
Trigger
Skier
Trigger: additional info
Unintentionally Triggered
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Avalanche Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Weak Layer
Facets
Depth
12"
Width
125'
Vertical
400'
Comments
My partner felt a collapse and noticed a crack propagation while we were breaking trail up red baldy, so we altered our plans and stopped a little further (about 1/3 of the way up) on a knoll to pull our skins. Did not feel any collapsing during the first part of the ski down. On the second part, it was a little steeper and closer to a rock band. I skied it first without incident. Then my partner skied and triggered the soft slab (that ran on the same facets we observed on the skin trail where we got the collapse and dug a hasty pit). I yelled to him and pointed to go skiers right, which he did to avoid the runout. It was not a large slide, but could have been enough snow to carry a skier over a cliff band or into trees. In hindsight, there was a lower-angle option that we should have taken since we were aware of the instability.
Coordinates