Avalanche: Caribou Basin

Observer Name
Prival L2
Observation Date
Saturday, February 2, 2019
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Brighton Perimeter » Caribou Basin
Location Name or Route
Rochester Ridge - The Other Runs
Elevation
9,900'
Aspect
North
Trigger
Unknown
Depth
7'
Width
1,000'
Comments
Remnants of a large cornice fracture was observed starting from the high point of The Other Runs to the skiers right. this failure propagated .19 miles east, down ridgeline. The cornice failure looked to have triggered several avalanches down slope on the Northerly aspect. The most notable was the slide in the skiers right side of the prominent slide path "the other runs" which failed from the top of slope. Sliding on what looked to be close to the ground as rocks and shrubs were still visible. We could not investigate the crown or bed surface as new snow and wind loading had already began to reload the slope. This run was in our groups closed run list so a proper investigation was not warranted. The second most notable slide was roughly 60' down slope in the wide spaced trees east of The Other Runs main slide path. This looked to be a step down with roughly a three foot crown. Probe pole depths of the remaining fracture material were 185cm-225cm deep. Our group initially noticed a small hole close to the tree line on the ridge and as we looked closer we traced the fracture running east. Many blocks of multiple fractures remian on the ridge and are much farther back in the root of the cornice than expected and snow bridging has already begun.
Note: this ridge line should be traveled with cation as new cornice has already developed. Collapsing a snow bridge above an existing fracture could result in a leg injury. This ridgeline is best traveled with a probe to identify that you are not on the leeward (wind loaded) area of the ridgeline.
Coordinates