Observer Name
Marr
Observation Date
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Avalanche Date
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Days Fork » Days Headwall
Location Name or Route
Days Fork Headwall
Elevation
10,100'
Aspect
Northeast
Trigger
Skier
Trigger: additional info
Intentionally Triggered
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Avalanche Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Weak Layer
New Snow/Old Snow Interface
Depth
6"
Width
80'
Vertical
300'
Comments
Ski cut released fresh wind slab skiers right of two dogs in Days. Im not sure of the exact location name, but the shot is the next obvious draw skiers right from the eastern rock buttress. A small hop was all it took to get the slab to release. Crown was roughly 75 feet in length, slab depth was about 6-8 inches judging by the crown. The slide continued over a convexity, but did not appear to step down into any weak layers besides the storm snow. Assuming the slab debris initiated sloughing in the snow down slope. Debris reached the normal transition spot below two dogs. I was partially suprised how easily the slab propagated laterally across the starting zone. Good lesson in spatial variability for me as ski cuts on similar aspects in Silver were not reactive, however I did note a skier triggered slab of the same depth in Grizzly right below the houses there. Weather was light winds and moderate snowfall.