Avalanche: Sunset Peak

Observer Name
Steve Young
Observation Date
Sunday, December 13, 2020
Avalanche Date
Sunday, December 13, 2020
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Sunset Peak
Location Name or Route
Sunset Peak North Face
Elevation
10,500'
Aspect
Northwest
Trigger
Skier
Trigger: additional info
Remotely Triggered
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Avalanche Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Weak Layer
Facets
Depth
12"
Width
35'
Caught
1
Carried
1
Comments
Traversing into a more eastern chute along the north face of sunset peak. As I came into alignment with the edge of a larger, steeper snow pocket above me, I heard the rumble and was swept partially standing up for about 35 feet. I yelled "slide" to the rest of the party below. As I propped myself back onto my feet and began straightlining out of the skiers right of the moving slide, I got some purchase on the spine and got up onto it after riding the slide for a few moments. The initial moving mass was about 35x60 feet, 12" deep. It started from the rocks above it (the peak is bare rock then snow starts 80 feet down from summit) and followed the edge of the spine running down the peak. The slide ran half way down the face of sunset peak, but didn't run to the bottom.
Forecaster Comments: Thank you for the report. Glad all's well. We suspect this is a sign of things to come with our poor snowpack structure.
Coordinates