Avalanche: Flanigans

Observer Name
Tyson Bradley
Observation Date
Thursday, March 21, 2019
Avalanche Date
Thursday, March 21, 2019
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Silver Fork » Flanigans
Location Name or Route
Flanagans; Second entrance from top
Elevation
10,000'
Aspect
North
Slope Angle
45°
Trigger
Skier
Trigger: additional info
Intentionally Triggered
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Avalanche Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Weak Layer
New Snow/Old Snow Interface
Depth
6"
Width
80'
Vertical
300'
Comments
Strong SE winds and moderately heavy snowfall created top-loaded slab on N-facing Flanagans entrances from East Bowl of SF. Reading this, and having seen an AN sluff spill off the cliffs atop the run, we were concerned. I approached the edge, grabbed a tree. Next step forward, crack shot out 50 feet, 6-8 inches deep from my ski tips. Also propagated behind me. Surface sluffing then occured about 20-30 feet below ridge and ran ~300 before eating itself up.
Later, around 2:30 pm, as we ascended Main Days, I had a collapse. I was about 100' short of the NE ridge of Main Days. When I heard the "whoompf," I knew it was time to bail, so we did.