Avalanche: Lake Desolation

Observer Name
Bowman-Kirigin, Budge
Observation Date
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Avalanche Date
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Mill D North » Lake Desolation
Location Name or Route
Desolation Lake
Elevation
9,600'
Aspect
North
Slope Angle
34°
Trigger
Skier
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Weak Layer
Facets
Depth
20"
Width
1,500'
Vertical
Unknown
Comments

Intentionally triggered avalanche during long ridge walk in blustery storm conditions. Felt a lot colder than it was due to wet and wind. As expected, the snowpack was alive today. All the red flags waving. Great day. Walked over from Bear Trap Fork and triggered a large avalanche below us as we approached the ridge above Lake Desolation. Far right NW-facing pocket went along sympathetically. As we rounded the corner we found that the whole ridgeline went, wrapping around to the NE-facing aspect. Deepest parts of crown about 2'. I suspect it went the on a thin SH/NSF layer under the snirt layer that has been real active in pits lately, but we couldn't examine the crown safely so we'll just guess. The lower angle connecting patches that didn't avalanche were littered with cracks. Total width about a 1/4 mile on North, NW, and NE aspects. Photos show far NW-facing pocket, a long series of fracture lines wrapping around to the E-facing slopes above the lake, and the slab blocks below us with a visible snirt layer (doesn't show up too well in the pics),

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