Morgan

Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Cardiff Fork » Holy Toledo

Holy Toledo

9,500'

West

37°

Skier

Repeater

Soft Slab

New Snow

Facets

12"

40'

300'

After skiing the main gut of holy toledo our party of 3 skinned up through the scrub trees for a second run. The gut was more filled in down low than the skiers right flank. While skinning back up, as we got higher it was clear that the entire skiers R flank had run in the past, as the snowpack was minimal, 12-18 inches. There did not appear to be a very cohesive storm slab, and the facets on the ground were wet and could be balled up. The bed surface was essentially the ground, though a small crust persisted in various places at the ground throughout the bowl by small hand pits up high. I speculated incorrectly that the slab was not dense or cohesive enough to be an issue, especially since the facets were wet. I skied the far skiers right flank and after 3-4 turns a small soft slab popped out behing me. Saw the stauchwall just behind me and easily skier to the right out of harms way. Very slow moving initially, then it gathered some speed. Probably would not have buried you, but could have injured a person. Perhaps the wind and spindrift off the cliffs created a bit more of a slab, and also the more westerly, almost southwesterly aspect of the right side of this shot may have created more of a small crust for this repeater to pop out on. Speculation only, I did not climb back up to the crown.