Observer Name
Noel Stewart
Observation Date
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Avalanche Date
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Superior
Location Name or Route
Superior-Little Cottonwood
Elevation
11,000'
Slope Angle
41°
Trigger
Skier
Trigger: additional info
Unintentionally Triggered
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Avalanche Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Weak Layer
New Snow/Old Snow Interface
Depth
21"
Width
80'
Vertical
250'
Comments
Party of one--Broke up-track from top of Cardiff to Superior. Snow deep, some sun and wind crust but still good and ski-able. Observed a natural off the side of the summit looked like it ran about 300 ft. or so. On the up-track snow seemed Okay with a few noted sloughing incidents. Looked that one of the resorts or UDOT had fired a shell into the hill, saw black powder burns in the snow but did not see any release from their shot. Skied this area and seemed stable. Aside of the one slide did not experience any other instability in the snow pack.
Comments
For the most part snow pack seemed stable but still some persistent weak layers on this mountain, just the right trigger will likely pull it out.