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Avalanche: Dromedary Peak

Observer Name
John Lemnotis
Observation Date
Sunday, March 23, 2025
Avalanche Date
Sunday, March 23, 2025
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Mill B South » Dromedary Peak
Location Name or Route
Dromedary
Elevation
10,800'
Aspect
Northeast
Slope Angle
40°
Trigger
Skier
Trigger: additional info
Unintentionally Triggered
Avalanche Type
Hard Slab
Avalanche Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Weak Layer
Density Change
Depth
18"
Width
150'
Vertical
250'
Caught
1
Carried
1
Comments
Our party released a wind slab below the upper crux of the NE face of Dromedary on the descent today. The first skier released a hard slab on their 3rd or 4th turn on the slope. The skier was able to arrest on the bed surface after a short, albeit intimidating, ride. The slab did not have a lot of energy but propagated a fair distance to the skiers left. The crown was as deep as 18" but averaged more around 6-8". I would estimate the slide as R1-D1 in the terrain that we were in. No injuries were sustained just a group of ego's bruised.
We started the day with every intention of being turned around due to wind slabs up high. As the day progressed we were pleasantly surprised at the lack thereof. We ascended most of the terrain that we skied and didn't encounter anything problematic. More wind "skin" than anything else. The loaded feature was a small bowl where we let our guard down after negotiating the thin cliff band above. Should've, could've, would've moved those tracks to skiers right to a more protective feature but hind sight is 20-20. Take this as a cheap lesson where everyone is ok and the day ended just fine.
Coordinates