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Avalanche: Catchers Mit

Observer Name
Grant Burton
Observation Date
Sunday, March 31, 2024
Avalanche Date
Sunday, March 31, 2024
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Kessler Peak » Catchers Mit
Location Name or Route
Catchers Mitt
Elevation
9,200'
Aspect
Northeast
Trigger
Skier
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Avalanche Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Weak Layer
Density Change
Depth
10"
Width
25'
Comments
Found a wind slab on a roll over that was just steep enough to let it rip. We had been avoiding the area due to the wind activity we'd experienced on our first two laps on the catchers mitt and I let people ripping East Couloir on Kessler encourage me to take a look anyways. Got lucky as it felt more like a boost wile riding and I was able to easily ski out of the slab. Thought I had just mitigated sluff when I noticed the crown in the snow behind me. Good free lesson that if you're concerned about wind slabs forming you should pick terrain that makes sense regardless of what rad lines are getting skied. Dont think the terrain would have caused a burial in our case, but It definitely could have sent one unintentionally off a cliff in different terrain.
Coordinates