Avalanche: Rocky Point

Observer Name
mark white
Observation Date
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Avalanche Date
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Rocky Point
Location Name or Route
Rocky Point
Elevation
10,500'
Aspect
Northeast
Slope Angle
37°
Trigger
Natural
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Avalanche Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Weak Layer
Facets
Depth
18"
Width
50'
Vertical
600'
Comments

Saw a total of two avalanches NE facing Rocky Point, the smaller one skiers left and the second larger slide came right off the top of Rocky Point started out about 40ft wide and propagated out to about 100 ft at it widest point. Crown was around 18 inches deep, and pretty much cleaned out the entire snow pack to the dirt quite always down the slope. Assuming it released naturally in the early AM, and they probably both released at the same time or one sympathetic the other. There were no tracks in the area. Slide obviously pulled out on the old faceted snow from a couple weeks ago, my thinking is that the wind and new snow overloaded the weak facets underneath. Nice debris pile in the island of trees at the bottom, definitely would have ruined your day. Photos starting zone, crown, Track and debris in the trees.

Comments

I also took a photo of the slide Todd triggered

Coordinates