Avalanche: Thomas Fork

Observer Name
Chris D
Observation Date
Sunday, April 9, 2023
Avalanche Date
Sunday, April 9, 2023
Region
Salt Lake » Neffs » Thomas Fork
Location Name or Route
Neffs Canyon > Thomas Fork > Burn
Elevation
7,400'
Aspect
Northeast
Trigger
Natural
Trigger: additional info
Cornice Triggered
Avalanche Type
Wet Loose
Avalanche Problem
Wet Snow
Depth
Unknown
Width
25'
Vertical
300'
Comments
Our party decided to go and check out the burn in the afternoon in hopes that the sheltered NE-facing terrain would have been in the shade long enough to to start firming up a bitt. We started ascending the ridge around 4pm and noted the snow was softer than we'd hoped it would be with ski penetration of about 4-6". We didn't observe any roller balls, pinwheels, or point releases. As we crossed a more open slope low down, we saw past evidence of a very small point release that looked like it had traveled about 80 vertical feet without carrying much snow. When we were about halfway up a minor ridge at 7200' we discussed preferring the shady NE aspect for our descent after noting that NW-facing aspects still in a bit of sun felt just a bit softer with some ski penetration even in the pre-established skinnner. Immediately after that discussion, someone in our party noticed a cornice on the opposite (NE-facing) side of the gully collapse over a 75' foot cliff, which triggered a 25' wide loose, wet avalanche that ran about 300'. Although it ran slowly, it carried enough energy to break smaller trees and shake larger ones. After seeing that, we decided to ski the path of our skinner back down the ridge and get out of there. This was a great reminder for us that even with the absence of major red flags in the zone we were planning to ski and a trend toward cooling at the end of the day, the cornices above were still getting strong afternoon sun and we hadn't considered them enough, assuming that we'd be well below in sheltered terrain. In retrospect the risk wasn't worth the very mediocre skiing in wet mashed potatoes!
Coordinates