Avalanche: White Pine

Observer Name
AAI Pro 1
Observation Date
Tuesday, January 9, 2024
Avalanche Date
Tuesday, January 9, 2024
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » White Pine
Location Name or Route
White Pine
Elevation
9,800'
Aspect
Northwest
Slope Angle
Unknown
Trigger
Unknown
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Avalanche Problem
New Snow
Depth
Unknown
Width
Unknown
Vertical
Unknown
Comments
It is hard to determine the exact avalanche type and trigger from a distance. There was a single rider's track to the immediate lookers right of the 3 crowns on the right in the photo. These avalanches were each small and 3 occurred on a single slope adjacent to each other.
Our theory for why the slabs are small, "pockety" and not connecting larger across a slope is that the gradual low-density snow storms over the last several days have not developed into a more cohesive slab across a slope, yet. As more snow and wind slam in the mountains, avalanches will break wider and deeper on the layer of buried facets.
Coordinates