UDOT PLANNED AVALANCHE CLOSURES!!

Avalanche: Santiago Ridge

Observer Name
Calzone, Cletus, & Blaster
Observation Date
Monday, March 7, 2022
Avalanche Date
Monday, March 7, 2022
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Mineral Fork » Santiago Ridge
Location Name or Route
Mineral Fork
Elevation
9,700'
Aspect
Northeast
Trigger
Skier
Depth
18"
Width
50'
Carried
1
Comments
After enjoying a day filled with beautiful Utah powder, my group skied Room of Doom and decided that one more lap up in Mineral Fork would be an excellent way to end an excellent day. We were all tired but on a high from the excellent skiing. It was my turn to break trail, so I started to put in the skintrack up what is known as 'Santiago' in Mineral Fork. Santiago is relatively steep (upper 30s) and is directly northeast facing. My partner and I had skied it a few weeks prior during our dry spell and we commented how the skiing was excellent because it was entirely faceted (red flag).
Shortly after starting up the run, I felt a collapse, heard a whomp, and saw some shooting cracks above me. Spooked, I yelled back to my partners about what I had experienced. Being on a powder high after a long day, one of my partners urged me to continue, as this was surely an anomoly. Everything so far had been rock solid. I thought about it, and generally agreed that everything else we had skied had been very stable. My friend is generally right in these situations, so I went against my gut and continued.
15 yards later, I felt another collapse, and slowly the snow around me began to slide. Not knowing the extent of the avalanche, I tried to just skin out of it. It became clear that wasn't going to happen. I beared down on the bed surface, deployed my airbag and held on for dear life. Luckily, I was able to hold on and only lost a ski pole. The avalanche ran to where the slope mellowed out.
This avalanche happened in a relatively protected area. If it had happened 200 yards up the slope, we would have been on a much bigger face and the consequences could have easily been dire for me (and likely my two partners). While everyone came away unscathed, this could have easily been a very serious incident.
My group debriefed the situation and we all learned a lot from this. The takeaway message... if you experience signs of instability (like I did), trust yourself and be firm in making a safe decision for the group.
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