Observer Name
Skier #2
Observation Date
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Avalanche Date
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Scotties Bowl
Location Name or Route
Scottie's bowl
Elevation
9,500'
Aspect
North
Slope Angle
38°
Trigger
Skier
Trigger: additional info
Intentionally Triggered
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Avalanche Problem
New Snow
Weak Layer
New Snow
Depth
6"
Width
25'
Vertical
200'
Comments
Skied Scottie's. Observed instabilities within new snow about 6" down pretty much everywhere we skinned/skied, but the slab on top was not terribly cohesive, so propagation was fairly minimal. My partner triggered a soft slab 6" deep while skinning up a fairly steep rollover. Estimate 38 degrees. The windloading and cracking in the spot that slid were obvious, and my partner was fairly certain it would slide before he triggered it. We saw a similar slide lower down on the skin track, set by a previous party, though it was on a less steep slope, maybe 34 deg., and didn't run far. Winds were gusty at times, more so at the upper elevations, but we observed sporadic gusts as low as the road.
Despite gusts, the surface snow was still fairly loose, not too slabby, though it could be worse on other aspects (we were on predominantly north). Also felt that new snow was fairly well bonded to old surfaces, even on terrain features that oriented off of north and thus had crusts underneath.
Coordinates