Avalanche: Tower Mountain

Observer Name
Rob Bogden
Observation Date
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Avalanche Date
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Region
Uintas » Nobletts » Tower Mountain
Location Name or Route
South of tower mountain
Elevation
10,100'
Aspect
East
Slope Angle
39°
Trigger
Snowmobiler
Trigger: additional info
Unintentionally Triggered
Avalanche Type
Hard Slab
Avalanche Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Weak Layer
Ground Interface
Depth
Unknown
Width
200'
Vertical
100'
Comments
Stupid!! I went up somewhat mid hill sidehilling fast, went across once, my friend went across on the way back. I went a little higher than him, saw three tracks along the bottom of this mountain. I looked up when exiting and the mountain was crumbling, I was going to pull my Avalanche airbag, but opted to hit the gas and try to escape it. I kept going looking back and turned down hill because the slide was growing in front of me and I figured I had enough runout room which I did. Could not believe what I saw once I turned around. I don't think it would have been survivable.
Comments

FORECASTER COMMENT-

Huge thanks Rob for reporting this. Information like this helps us issue more accurate advisories, ultimately saving lives!

And good on ya for keeping cool under, what must've been a pretty stressful moment.

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