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Avalanche: Big Water

Observer Name
Matt Davidson
Observation Date
Friday, March 5, 2010
Avalanche Date
Friday, March 5, 2010
Region
Salt Lake » Mill Creek Canyon » Big Water
Location Name or Route
Elevation
8,800'
Aspect
Northeast
Slope Angle
36°
Trigger
Skier
Trigger: additional info
Intentionally Triggered
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Weak Layer
Surface Hoar
Depth
2'
Width
200'
Vertical
Unknown
Comments

Soft Slab of new snow. Crown face thickness was 2' deep and about 200ft wide. North to North East aspect. Slope was 36-38 deg. Trigger was hairpin at best. While skiing a NW face of about 25deg, skied along the edge of this face, looking down. Fracture formed up slope, just to the side and downhill of my ski. Ducked off further to the west and turned around and watched this go. I would consider this a remote trigger as I wasn't actually on this face, just nearby. Cracking appeared just over the bulge of the slope, left quite a bit of hang fire on the gentle aspect adjacent to this slope. Wind may have played a factor in the snow transport of this face, but not a ton as there was no noticeable cornice and the area seemed to be some what sheltered by the nearby trees on the NW aspect.

Coordinates