Avalanche: Porter Fork

Observer Name
Observation Date
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Avalanche Date
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Region
Salt Lake » Mill Creek Canyon » Porter Fork
Location Name or Route
Elevation
8,600'
Aspect
West
Trigger
Skier
Trigger: additional info
Intentionally Triggered
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Weak Layer
Surface Hoar
Depth
2'
Width
50'
Vertical
150'
Comments

After out last run as we were headed down We came to a west facing slope at 8600 ft. It had been skied at least 6 times but was suspect because of the aspect and the fact that it was 37-38 degrees. A woman had just skied it about an hour before us. When I cut the slope a pocket popped out about 50 ft wide and two feet deep. It ran 100 to 150 feet. The wind was very light. Off the ridge at about 9500 feet there were some old, hard pillows. We avoided these so I have no comment. Surface was 6" of very light "ego" powder on top of increasingly dense layers with the surface hoare at about 2 feet. I thought the snow pack was "healing" but there are obviously still major problems in certain places. You guys have obviously identified the problem and the dailey discussion on your website is right on. The hard thing for us skiers is standing on top of an 800 foot run of what looks to be perfect powder and turning back.

Coordinates