Sign Up for the Utah Snow and Avalanche Workshop (USAW) on December 7th!

Avalanche: Room of Doom

Observer Name
Paul
Observation Date
Saturday, March 18, 2023
Avalanche Date
Sunday, March 19, 2023
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Mineral Fork » Room of Doom
Location Name or Route
Room of Doom (Doomsday Ramp)
Elevation
10,500'
Aspect
North
Trigger
Skier
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Avalanche Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Weak Layer
Density Change
Depth
6"
Width
30'
Snow Profile Comments
Wind Effected snow, Wind slabs, PWL
Comments
Entered the Doomsday Ramp from the Summit. Acended Cardiac from Mid Ivory. Was able to see the ramp on the way up. Snow was wind effected with a very light crust. Some very light sluffing occorred while making the first few ski cuts. Snow was stable for the majority of the chute. Towards the bottom there was a small pocket of convex wind loading. I noticed the same issue early on Cardiac, but had room to avoid it. I cut left and the slope released. I was able to ski out to the left. Small soft slab. However, after about 100ft it broke down into a week layer about 2 feet deep on about a 38 degree slope. I anticipated these pockets of wind drifted snow, however that step down did catch me a little off guard. Had I not skied out of the soft slab, I probably would have been burried by the step down.
I spent most of the day North of Superior. All of the snow was wind effected but generally stable and good skiing. However, there are a lot of these pockets of wind slabs throughout these steeper chutes. Currently Visible but will definitely be a hidden issue with the next storm.
Coordinates