UDOT PLANNED AVALANCHE CLOSURES!!

Avalanche: South Monitor Bowl

Observer Name
Adam Bellomy
Observation Date
Saturday, March 9, 2019
Avalanche Date
Saturday, March 9, 2019
Region
Salt Lake » Park City Ridgeline » Monitors » South Monitor Bowl
Location Name or Route
S Monitor
Elevation
9,800'
Aspect
Northeast
Trigger
Skier
Depth
12"
Width
40'
Comments
Tour plan was to head up to South Monitor to see how the new snow was behaving. Temps were cold compared to the last few weeks. Winds were mostly calm and there was no sign of recent wind from the last 24 hours. By the time we got to S Monitor, a party had already dug a snow pit and ultimately decided not to ski the slop. Did a little more investigating in their pit and found that the interface between the old snow from last weekend and new snow from latest storm cycle was still somewhat sensitive. ECTN11. Had to pull on my shovel a little to get the slab to move, but there was definitely a slab on top of a weak layer that pulled off cleanly. I dropped a medium sized cornice onto a lower angle section of the slope with only minor sluffing. Tying to convince myself to ski the slope, I dropped a cornice onto a steeper section of the slope which pulled out a storm slab that was about 40-50 feet wide. Didn't go down to get the specifics on the crown line, but it looked to be about 10-12 inches deep. The slide ran about 3/4 of the way down the slope. Ultimately decided to retreat back to the lower angle terrain.