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Avalanche: Flagstaff Ridge

Observer Name
VG
Observation Date
Saturday, March 15, 2025
Avalanche Date
Saturday, March 15, 2025
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Flagstaff Ridge
Location Name or Route
Flagstaff
Elevation
9,700'
Aspect
Southeast
Trigger
Skier
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Avalanche Problem
New Snow
Depth
9"
Width
10'
Comments
Around 8:30am after transitioning near the top of flagstaff, I traversed out to the main ski line. The other party in my group waited as I tested the slope. As I skied over, a soft slab broke a few feet above me. This occurred on a density change from the new snow 3/14 around 9" down. The debris was low density and did not have a lot of power to it. I couldn't tell exactly how far it ran because visibility was not great, but it didn't seem to go far. This same problem on a steeper slope with more entrapment could generate enough force to cause problems.
It caught me off guard a bit because I had been on the same slope the night before. I had noticed the density change in hand pits, but it was not reactive while skiing the same terrain (at 7:30). After sitting overnight with a couple inches of new snow on top, it was behaving much differently. This feature seemed to be a bit cross loaded.
I was out for the majority of the day in this zone and made a point to jump on as many test slopes as I could. No further reactivity noted.
Coordinates