Get Your Ticket to the 32nd Annual Backcountry Benefit on September 11th! Support Forecasting, Awareness, and Education

Observer Name
mark white
Observation Date
Thursday, November 28, 2019
Avalanche Date
Thursday, November 28, 2019
Region
Salt Lake » Park City Ridgeline » Monitors » South Monitor Bowl
Location Name or Route
South Monitor Bowl
Elevation
9,400'
Aspect
North
Slope Angle
36°
Trigger
Skier
Trigger: additional info
Unintentionally Triggered
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Avalanche Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Weak Layer
Facets
Depth
3'
Width
400'
Vertical
Unknown
Comments
I was walking the ridge line towards S Monitor and I was pretty sure nothing was going to happen because I was there Tuesday and the ridge was wind scoured and firm with only a little bit of old faceted snow in a few spots. Well I must have stepped on one of those spots, got a large collapse and saw a powder cloud. I remotely triggered it from at least 70ft away on the flats. When I went to investigate it I realized that a shooting crack traveled at least 300ft from the initial avalanche, across flater terrain and triggered another avalanche in the main bowl mid-slope, that slide had way too much hangfire for my liking and I stayed away from it. Both slides ran on depth hoar/ facets at the ground interface and dirt and grass was noted in both bed surfaces. Breaking trail up USA Bowl I was getting collapses constantly and figured thinks were nearing the breaking point.
Video