Avalanche: Catherines

Observer Name
Wolfy
Observation Date
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Avalanche Date
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Catherines
Location Name or Route
Lake Catherine
Elevation
10,100'
Aspect
Northwest
Trigger
Unknown
Avalanche Type
Hard Slab
Avalanche Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Depth
2'
Width
200'
Vertical
250'
Comments

I saw this avalanche today and it didn't look ancient so I thought I would go take a closer look. It was snowing pretty hard and so I couldn't really tell how old it was but I didn't see it on the avalanche list so hopefully this isn't a repost. I did dig a pit on a small test slope nearby and it looked like the weakest interface was the 30 cm of depth hoar at the bottom of the snow pack however my ECT yielded no result and I wasn't able to do a PST.

Forecaster's Note: After soliciting info from our observers, it turns out this slide was from the last avalanche cycle, around the 12th or 13th. Thanks to those who helped up out!

Comments

In other news, there were some pretty cool needles falling out of the sky and there was a layer of really big Graupel (3-4mm) that was resting on top of the old snow. (see photo)

Coordinates