A party of three experienced backcountry skiers headed up the Chicken Shit Ridge in mid-Days Fork of BCC, terrain that was unfamiliar to them. Despite the unfamiliarity, the team had scoped the terrain via map and Google Earth prior to the outing. The party consisted of a 66 year old male, a 55 year old male, and a 30 year old female. The 66 year old male - who was caught and carried - was very experienced, conservative, and had been skiing the Wasatch backcountry since the late 1980s. Each had rescue gear and releasable bindings and followed safe travel protocol.
They had skiied lower angle terrain that day and on their last run, the first skier (66 y.o) dropped northeast off the ridge into steeper (40* terrain) and triggered a loose snow facet sluff which carried him through a stand of trees for 300' down the slope. The skier lost all his gear but remained at the top of the shallow debris pile. He sustained no injuries. His partners watched from above, recovered his gear, and they skiied out to the Spruces trailhead in BCC.
The terrain in Days Fork is littered with avalanche terrain - steep east to north facing avalanche paths that are suitable terrain choices when the danger is not elevated. The Chicken Shit ridge is commonly ascended from the Days drainage and offers low angle switch back terrain that is well navigated by the experienced bc user. The ridge rises up and to the west, gaining the Benson/Reed ridgeline, separating Days and Cardiff Forks and splits open and forested avalanche terrain on both sides (Crystal Palace, Days Draw, and Hall of Giants are named avalanche paths nearby).
The skier was caught in a steep northeast facing gladed area midslope at 9400' and carried for 300' through stands of trees.
The weather at the time of the incident was mostly cloudy with little wind and temps in the upper 20s. The month of January has been relatively dry but for a good mid-month storm that produced roughly 26"/1.96" SWE on the 12th and 13th. Other than a few weak disturbances over the past couple weeks since that storm, general periods of high pressure has dominated the intermountain region. Clear skies and inverted temperatures often promote faceting, or weakening of the snow surface which, if prolonged, may result in human-initiated loose snow sluffs, or point releases. This process had been noted by the UAC staff as well as other backcountry observers, with at least one loose snow sluff initiated and reported on January 20th along the Park City ridgeline. See pic below
The overall snowpack was stable and the danger rated for this day was LOW. Regardless, the Bottom Line indicated, "The avalanche danger is LOW but remember that your overall risk is amplified by your terrain choices. Minor shallow wind pockets, cornice fall, and shallow loose snow avalanches can be significant for those in severe and unforgiving terrain."
In this case, the skier triggered a dry loose "facet" sluff that caught and carried him for 300' through a stand of trees in steep mid-slope terrain at 9400' off the Chicken Shit Ridge. It is possible that this particular area had weaker surface snow due to it being mid-elevation, shady, not wind-effected, and possibly thin from previous avalanching this winter.
Forecaster Comment: It is reasonable for backcountry parties to choose more aggressive terrain when the avalanche danger is rated as Low or Moderate. The party was well equipped, experienced, and followed safe travel protocol (one-at-a-time). As sluffs typically need steeper slope angles to run, it is unlikely that this conservative party would have encountered any loose snow avalanching up until the incident. No "snow pits" would have alerted the party to this type of instability; only the tactile awareness that the riding conditions in the loose cohesive snow remained good.
