Avalanche: UFO Bowls

Observer Name
JD, JU, DW
Observation Date
Saturday, December 22, 2018
Avalanche Date
Saturday, December 22, 2018
Region
Provo » American Fork » UFO Bowls
Location Name or Route
UFO Bowls
Elevation
10,000'
Aspect
East
Trigger
Skier
Trigger: additional info
Remotely Triggered
Avalanche Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Depth
20"
Width
25'
Comments
We observed two slides today, the first was remotely triggered as we skinned up the ridge near the top of UFO 3. Obvious red flag warnings (cracking, collapsing, abundant and variable wind loading) had us on high alert and making conservative choices. The remotely triggered slide broke 10 feet underneath the cornice and ridge and ran 100 feet where, surprisingly, it was stopped by a group of trees. We didn't venture out for photos nor to measure the crown, but the wind slab looked to be around 18-20 inches deep.
The second slide was on a ESE aspect in UFO 2 around 9300 feet elevation. Sluffing storm snow broke a soft slab (4-6" deep) out that propagated to 50 feet wide, and ran 400 feet. The slide occured in new snow that had fallen on top of an unbreakable sun crust.
In summary, we found considerable danger today on high ridge lines, where wind slabs are variably distributed and seemed to be quite sensitive. If we get additional storm snow, or additional wind loading we would expect the danger to remain and increase in the next few days.
Coordinates