UDOT PLANNED AVALANCHE CLOSURES!!

Avalanche: Big Baldy

Observer Name
Robert Al-Chokhachy
Observation Date
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Avalanche Date
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Region
Logan » Providence Canyon » Big Baldy
Location Name or Route
Elevation
8,800'
Aspect
North
Slope Angle
40°
Trigger
Skier
Trigger: additional info
Intentionally Triggered
Avalanche Type
Hard Slab
Weak Layer
Facets
Depth
18"
Width
100'
Vertical
2,000'
Comments

Big Baldy in Bear River range. Main slide path perpendicular to road (comes out at picnic ground 1/2 way to quarry. Sunny weather with below freezing temps. Winds from west. Pseudo hard slab avalanche. Slide triggered on North/Northeast aspects. Elevation 9,200 feet. 35-40 degrees, 18-20 " deep, 100 feet wide that ran 2,220 feet. Weak layer was apparently due to the low snow pack. This region of Providence canyon has had substantially lower snowfall, and has finally had enough snow to trigger a slide on the thin-snowpack ground hoar that troubled most locations for earlier parts of the year. We also triggered a second slide adjacent to this, with similar aspects, etc that did not run as far due to dense forest cover, but ran on similar layer (2-4" below dirt layer). My partner triggered the slide with a ski cut as pillows were quite obvious. I had skied this area last weekend with old snow and was surprised that it was stil "punchy" from low snow totals. Rating was probably spot on. This area has missed most of range, but pockets of instability.

Coordinates