Avalanche: Central Bear River Range

Observer Name
Eric and Amy Flygare
Observation Date
Friday, March 24, 2017
Avalanche Date
Friday, March 24, 2017
Region
Logan » Logan River » Tony Grove » Central Bear River Range
Location Name or Route
Tony Grove'ish
Elevation
9,200'
Aspect
North
Slope Angle
40°
Trigger
Snowboarder
Trigger: additional info
Intentionally Triggered
Avalanche Type
Hard Slab
Avalanche Problem
New Snow
Weak Layer
New Snow/Old Snow Interface
Depth
12"
Width
30'
Vertical
200'
Comments

The new snow last night worked wonders for the snowpack. However, the new snow did not bond great to the underlying snow and we found most slopes capable of producing slides. We set loose several slab avalanches on steep north facing terrain. The largest was about 30 feet wide 50 feet long and a foot deep. The soft wind slab picked up speed quick on the old snow surface (Picture 1).

Another group of skiers set loose a shallow wet slab on and east facing slope in picture 2. There were many other wet slab avalanches released by the hordes of snowmobilers on many slopes facing the sun see pictures 3 and 4.

We were surprised by the great riding conditions in the High country today (picture 5). While Tony Grove Lake only had about 4 inches of new snow there was 10-12 inches on great snow up high. Unfortunately the sun took its toll there will be a lot of crusts tomorrow. North Facing slopes were still dry when we left today at 2:00.

Coordinates