Avalanche: Icefall

Observer Name
Belabi Blaster
Observation Date
Sunday, March 14, 2021
Avalanche Date
Sunday, March 14, 2021
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » White Pine » Red Baldy » Icefall
Location Name or Route
Icefall
Elevation
10,500'
Aspect
Southeast
Trigger
Skier
Depth
5"
Width
15'
Comments
We knew that wind loading slopes would be prone to slabs due to 40-60mph gusts. Decided to drop in hesitantly and do a few cuts. Released 1st slab about 15 ft into run. Felt it was manageable so continued to ski releasing another slab about 15 min down. Once again, very manageable so skied down slide path about 300 ft. Next skier dropped in and released a slab about 10-15 turns into run. As he continued down another released and sympathetically triggered another larger from above...... we both decided that we should get out of town so we transitioned and skinned/booted to top of chute.
multiple slides while all rather manageable are as good an indication as we need to bail on plan. The chute tightens and even a few small ones could gain speed/strength and mess you up.