Observer Name
Jason Konigsberg
Observation Date
Monday, April 7, 2014
Avalanche Date
Monday, April 7, 2014
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Cardiff Pass
Location Name or Route
Cardiff Peak
Elevation
10,100'
Aspect
East
Slope Angle
38°
Trigger
Skier
Trigger: additional info
Unintentionally Triggered
Avalanche Type
Hard Slab
Avalanche Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Weak Layer
New Snow
Depth
8"
Width
30'
Vertical
100'
Caught
1
Comments
Exiting to Alta at 3pm. Stayed on the ridge from Cardiff Peak pushing some snow to see if east and southeast had refrozen yet. Got a little lower down and further off the ridge towards pole line pass and stopped near a smooth looking piece of snow. Initial thought was surface had refrozen and would make for a decent exit. Heard an audible collapse and noticed a slab had broke out about 5' above me. Was able to fight and self arrest on the bed surface. Wouldn't have been buried but would have been a leg twisting ride with the very dense slab.
Slab was about 8" deep where I was caught and seemed to have warmed during the day and then refroze, slab was 1F to pencil hardness. Under the slab was about 1" of F to 4F dry new snow above a slick mf crust. Its possible that there were small grained facets above the crust but can't confirm.
Coordinates