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Avalanche: Brighton Perimeter

Observer Name
Hardesty and Covington
Observation Date
Monday, January 24, 2011
Avalanche Date
Monday, January 24, 2011
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Brighton Perimeter
Location Name or Route
Snake Creek
Elevation
10,200'
Aspect
East
Trigger
Skier
Trigger: additional info
Unintentionally Triggered
Avalanche Type
Hard Slab
Weak Layer
Surface Hoar
Depth
18"
Width
70'
Vertical
800'
Comments

Investigating the crown. The rain/rime crust was only 1cm thick. A sheet of surface hoar lay on the bed surface.

No accident. Skier managed to get off of the hard slab beyond the right flank. Two others had skied the slope prior to the third person triggering the slab. The first two skied down where the slab was 2.5-3' deep; the third came in from the right side where the slab was only 6-8" deep and triggered the thing. Interestingly, his trigger point was right where his traverse in overlapped with the second person's track.

Comments

We were on our way to investigate the lower slide as reported by Craig Gordon from the day before. Dimensions for lower slide 1-2' deep also running beneath the rain/rime crust on the Jan 8 surface hoar. Interesting too to note all the sled and skier tracks in all of the other sub-drainages of Snake Creek in similar aspect/elevation without incident.

Coordinates