Observer Name
Jim M.
Observation Date
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Avalanche Date
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Little Superior
Location Name or Route
South face of Little Superior
Elevation
10,500'
Aspect
Southeast
Slope Angle
34°
Trigger
Skier
Trigger: additional info
Intentionally Triggered
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Avalanche Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Weak Layer
New Snow/Old Snow Interface
Depth
8"
Width
100'
Vertical
2,000'
Comments
Went up with intentions of skiing into upper Cardiff via LSB on the East face. East had a crust so noticing all the snow on south facing was good on the way up, decided to ski south face Little Superior out. Did a ski cut from a high to a lower point just off the ridge. Wind slab released that was much bigger than expected. Produced a decent powder cloud on the way down, running approximately 2000 vertical feet. It funneled down through a choke of what I think is called the Two Trees area. I went down skiers left of the slide where snow was not wind effected and ended up skiing through a sizable amount of debris. Would have been a crappy ride if caught in it as lots of rocks now are just under new snow. Definitely enough snow to burry someone.
Good example of cross loading. West winds loaded snow east of the ridge (see photo of before the slide) straight in front of my ski tips. Everything between my skis and the ridge cracked out. Sorry...no photos of the slide. Would have been difficult to see anyway.
Coordinates