Avalanche: Gods Lawnmower

Observation Date
Monday, April 29, 2013
Avalanche Date
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Kessler Peak » Gods Lawnmower
Location Name or Route
Kessler North Slide Path, aka: Lawnmower
Elevation
9,000'
Aspect
North
Slope Angle
Unknown
Trigger
Natural
Avalanche Type
Wet Slab
Avalanche Problem
Wet Snow
Weak Layer
Wet grains
Depth
Unknown
Width
Unknown
Vertical
600'
Comments

Sorry for the poor picture quality. Slide initiated in the steep cliffs on the rider's left side within approximately 200 feet of the summit. As this Wet Loose Snow descended through the mid-slope steep cliff band it appeared to step down and gouge out a Wet Slab. The slide appeared to have occurred on Sunday, yet not confirmed. OF NOTE: This appears to be an indicator path for similar Northerly facing terrain that has not gone through a full spring transition. At this point in time we have now experienced minimal to non-existent refreezes for four consecutive nights. Mondays overnight questionable lows combined with a thick consistent cloud deck may provide the impetus to help develop significant activity on Tuesday. With the overnight lows forecasted to dip on Tuesday evening the 30th, it appears that during the day on Tuesday the 30th we may be at a critical last day of this potential type of avalanche issue.

Additional comment: As of the morning of the 30th, it appears that there has been more activity within the last 12 hours. Observations at 0800 hours on the morning of the 30th indicate that similar Wet Loose activity has now run on the rider's right side of the slide path. Debris piles from each incident appear to have accumulated to at least 1.5 meters deep. Wet activity appears immanent during the day on the 30th on upper elevation North facing terrain.

Coordinates