Observer Name
Michael Boman
Observation Date
Monday, May 4, 2015
Avalanche Date
Monday, May 4, 2015
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Wolverine Cirque
Location Name or Route
Wolverine Cirque
Elevation
10,300'
Aspect
Northeast
Slope Angle
45°
Trigger
Natural
Depth
Unknown
Width
100'
Vertical
200'
Comments
A large segment of rock pealed off the very steep face found on the Wolverine cirque which then roared down the slope. It entrained the remaining snow from our meager snowpack as it did so. I observed the slide from the slopes of Mount Tuscarora and caught the last portion of it on video. The chutes on Wolverine are skied occasionally and this could have been a potentially very bad outcome to anyone caught in the relatively small but powerful and aggressive rock/snow slide.
Comments
The rock fall and avalanche weren't anticipated and thus I caught only the latter portion of it on video. However, please understand that it was quite thunderous as the rocks seemed to simply calve (blast) from the face of the cirque and then roar down the mountain. Impressive!
Video