Avalanche: Salt Lake

Observer Name
trentmeisenheimer
Observation Date
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Avalanche Date
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Region
Salt Lake
Location Name or Route
Mill B south
Elevation
Unknown
Aspect
Northeast
Slope Angle
40°
Trigger
Snowboarder
Trigger: additional info
Unintentionally Triggered
Avalanche Type
Wet Loose
Depth
Unknown
Width
400'
Vertical
800'
Caught
1
Carried
1
Comments

Went into Mill B South from the s curvs in BCC. While breaking trail up, on a steep East facing slope I let the group know to watch out for push alanches. On the up track the green housing was in full effect making the snow surface damp and very heavy. For our first run I was weary of the snow and made sure everyone knew to look out for these sluffs.

I dropped in and made it down about 1/4 of the run and pulled out on some high ground. And not to my suprise I watched the snow start as a small sluff and just get bigger from there. All of our party came to me and I decided to ride down another 1/4 of the hill. Again I made a big sweeping turn to high ground with some trees. While I was waiting for the rest of the group to come down to me, I looked up hill and noticed a four to five foot wall of snow coming right for me. I pointed the board down hill but it was to late it hit me with a lot of power and took me into a stand of thick trees where I got caught, while the main mass washed through.

This avalanche started at my feet, but by the time it was done it was 400-600 feet wide and the debris pile was 10 feet deep in places.

All in all no injuries I did get my pants ripped open though.

This is my ninth season in the backcountry and my first time being in any avalanche. I would advise that everyones goal is to never be caught in one.

LINK TO VIDEO

Video
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