Avalanche: Toledo Chutes

Observer Name
BSO
Observation Date
Monday, November 29, 2010
Avalanche Date
Monday, November 29, 2010
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Toledo Chutes
Location Name or Route
Southern most "chute" in Toledo Bowl
Elevation
10,500'
Aspect
East
Slope Angle
37°
Trigger
Skier
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Weak Layer
New Snow/Old Snow Interface
Depth
10"
Width
100'
Vertical
1,000'
Comments

I think everyone who reads this should know I screwed up. I intentionally triggered a soft slab in the very southernmost part of Toledo Bowl, from the peak in the chute that runs about 1000 vertical in a due east direction. I was quite surprised by how far it ran, and I think if someone had been below me but out of sight this slide could have been a big problem for them. I knew know one was there as I had put in the skin track to the peak. I knew this chute was going to move but I was quite surprised how fast and how far it went. I generally try not to be surprised in the backcountry, and I am mad when I get surprised. I think this chute was far more windloaded and denser than I would have guessed from my previous runs in main and banana days on similar aspects. I did have a very small soft slab release at the bottom of main days on a very steep (>45 degrees) aspect, but it was totally manageable and expected. I think this slide surprised me because of how predictable things had been over in days fork. I forgot my camera so there are no pics. (first trip of the season, I was lucky I remembered the beacon). It did pull out parts of the chute that were not directly in the slide path in a sort of sympathetic fashion. The bed surface was pretty soft, not a hard suncrust.

Coordinates