Observer Name
B
Observation Date
Saturday, December 28, 2024
Avalanche Date
Saturday, December 28, 2024
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Willows
Location Name or Route
West Willow
Elevation
9,400'
Aspect
Northeast
Slope Angle
38°
Trigger
Natural
Avalanche Type
Hard Slab
Avalanche Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Weak Layer
Facets
Depth
4'
Width
250'
Vertical
350'
Comments
Flat light, low cloud deck and very light snow all prevented getting a better photo. Of note this Natural appeared to have been triggered during High PI band that moved through the area around 0800. Heavy snow accompanied with Extreme WSW winds likely were the culprit. Of note, this slide appeared to have run in basal facets, and the avalanche did not clean out all the basal facets.
Unfortunately I was unable to safefly access the crown. When moving through the low angle hang fire, the pre-existing spider web cracks on this low angle terrain continued to glide minimally downhill. Also of note, it was obvious that this slide had happened sometime around 0800 because there was no new snow on the bed surface. Finally, as this slide moved downhill it apparently sympathetically triggered another slide in the gully that was one feature to the east. There were spider cracks at the top of this gully and on a rollover 3/4 the way down the second feature released and fed into the main path.
Coordinates