Avalanche: Rocky Point

Observer Name
mark white
Observation Date
Thursday, November 22, 2018
Avalanche Date
Thursday, November 22, 2018
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Rocky Point
Location Name or Route
Rocky Point
Elevation
10,300'
Aspect
Northeast
Slope Angle
38°
Trigger
Natural
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Avalanche Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Weak Layer
Facets
Depth
7"
Width
50'
Vertical
500'
Comments
There was not just one avalanche but many in the steep NE facing chutes off the Rocky Point, Catherine’s ridgeline. My thoughts are they were either naturals or triggered remotely from someone walking the ridgeline, but most likely natural seeing that there was no one around and it was quite fresh when I came upon it. The one I gave the demisions of was the largest but most of the chutes off the ridgeline had avalanche most likely at the same time seeing that they were connected by shooting cracks. The slides were failing on the facets above the October crust and fairly well connected and running to the flats. I was getting collapsing and cracking the whole day and seeing avalanches was no big surprise. The last photo is a separate slide that was connected by a shooting crack