Avalanche: Wolverine

Observer Name
Peter Daines
Observation Date
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Avalanche Date
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Wolverine
Location Name or Route
Wolverine
Elevation
10,500'
Aspect
Northeast
Trigger
Skier
Trigger: additional info
Unintentionally Triggered
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Avalanche Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Weak Layer
Density Change
Caught
1
Carried
1
Buried - Partly
1
Comments

I skied Wolverine Cirque Sunday morning and this statement from Monday's forecast was absolutely true, "Yesterday, a lot of people got cheap avalanche lessons as perhaps a couple dozen people triggered, small, shallow, soft wind slabs and wet sluffs--most were 6 inches deep and 20' wide." I set off two small, shallow, soft wind slabs in one run. Nothing big enough to bury anyone, but the slide/slough spilled over some good-sized cliffs below. Then, as my group was about to head back towards Brighton, we witnessed a skier ski the chute b/w the two big cliffs on the peak at the north end of the cirque. His first turn set off a shallow, soft wind slab that sent the slide/slough spilling over the cliffs and into the narrow chute. As he entered the chute, the moving snow landed on him and it actually took him for about a 500-foot ride, I'd estimate. He popped up physically okay, but appeared to have only one pole and no skis. The last time I saw him he had hiked back up and had found one of his skis. (we didn't just leave him alone; he had about six other people in his party).