Avalanche: Wolverine Cirque

Observer Name
Adam Barker
Observation Date
Friday, January 21, 2011
Avalanche Date
Friday, January 21, 2011
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Wolverine Peak » Wolverine Cirque
Location Name or Route
Wolverine Cirque
Elevation
10,000'
Aspect
East
Slope Angle
40°
Trigger
Skier
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Weak Layer
New Snow/Old Snow Interface
Depth
Unknown
Width
Unknown
Vertical
Unknown
Caught
1
Comments

We were perhaps a little hasty in jumping into Wolverine Cirque today and nearly paid the price. Skier triggered avalanche, pulled out on the first turn after dropping through the choke. Propagated immediately down and out, pulling out deeper slabs as it continued down slope. We did not go examine the details of the slide after (frayed nerves, spent legs, hangfire), but amazingly two skiers skied directly lookers left of this slide about 20 minutes after it occurred (after several warnings from the rest of the group on top of the ridge). I would imagine the weakness was on the rain crust, and likely triggered due to wind loading from the previous night's winds. I don't believe it stepped down to the faceted layer underneath the rain crust further down slope. I'm guessing those were deeper pockets of wind deposited snow on top of the rain crust. The skier self arrested and booted back up due to further concerns of more avalanches. Certainly some mental mistakes were made, and we are happy no one was injured or killed. A harrowing learning experience, and one we hope to not repeat any time soon.

Coordinates