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Avalanche: Silver Fork Headwall

Observer Name
Pearson/Bellomy
Observation Date
Thursday, January 6, 2022
Avalanche Date
Thursday, January 6, 2022
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Silver Fork » Silver Fork Headwall
Location Name or Route
Silver fork headwall
Elevation
9,800'
Aspect
North
Trigger
Natural
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Avalanche Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Weak Layer
Facets
Depth
3'
Width
800'
Comments
Topped out on Emma's ridge line and immediately noticed a recent natural slide. With bad viz this looked to be just a small pocket(40-50 ft) that ripped out (likely a repeater) on very common slide path on the Silver fork Headwall about 3 ft deep. We proceeded to drop in to west bowl out of reach of todays hazard and upon getting to the bottom found the slide had actually extended across a good chunk of the headwall extending over to down and out (about 800-1000 ft). This took out the majority of the due north facing slope. The slide ran all the way to the flats with debris pile an estimated 7-10+ ft deep. Average crown height seemed to be about 3' with some spots that appeared to be 5-8+ ft deep. Wind slab that appeared to step down in some spots around the cliffs to basal facets.
Coordinates