Observer Name
Garcia/Ament
Observation Date
Saturday, December 3, 2022
Avalanche Date
Friday, December 2, 2022
Region
Moab » La Sal Mountains
Location Name or Route
Talking Mt Cirque
Elevation
11,500'
Aspect
Northwest
Slope Angle
34°
Trigger
Natural
Avalanche Type
Hard Slab
Avalanche Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Weak Layer
Facets
Depth
18"
Width
125'
Vertical
700'
Snow Profile Comments
The snowprofile was dug adjacent to the lower crown line on the lookers left side. The weak layer that failed is down 60cm. There is more wind loaded snow at the profile site than at the crown. At the actual crown, the weak layer that failed is down 47cm. The avalanche failed on 1mm facets. We were able to produce an ECTP 26 on this layer.
Comments
It's hard to say exactly when this slide happened. I had eyes on this slope on Tuesday 11-29 and it had not avalanched. Moderate to Strong Southerly winds have been loading this slope since 7 inches of snow fell Monday night into Tuesday morning. The bed surface was starting to fill in with wind drifted snow. The debris was hard, but not frozen solid. We probed an average of 120cm in the deepest part of the debris pile.
Ultimately this slope got enough of a load from wind drifted snow to overburden the weak layer of buried facets.
Coordinates