Avalanche: Humpy Creek

Observer Name
Ted Scroggin
Observation Date
Saturday, January 26, 2019
Avalanche Date
Friday, January 25, 2019
Region
Uintas » Bear River Ranger District » Humpy Creek
Location Name or Route
Humpy Basin
Elevation
10,700'
Aspect
Northeast
Slope Angle
37°
Trigger
Snowmobiler
Avalanche Type
Hard Slab
Avalanche Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Weak Layer
Facets
Depth
3'
Width
400'
Vertical
600'
Comments
Checked out this sled triggered slide in the Humpy Basin area. Even though the terrain was broken into small sub ridges this slide propagated around a few corners and was quite connected. It was possibly triggered somewhere lower on the slope.
Comments
The lookers right flank of the slide was around 3' deep, while up near the ridge line the crown was closer to 5-6' deep. This hard slab avalanche failed on sugary faceted snow that formed earlier in the month. This area as seen from some of the photos is a steep, cold, shady northeast aspect with weak sugary faceted snow and a dense hard slab sitting on top. All it takes is a person to find the shallow weak spot, collapse the slope releasing a scary avalanche. Glad to hear no one was caught in this one.
Coordinates