Avalanche: West Monitor

Observer Name
mark white
Observation Date
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Avalanche Date
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Region
Salt Lake » Park City Ridgeline » Monitors » West Monitor
Location Name or Route
West Monitor
Elevation
10,000'
Aspect
Northeast
Slope Angle
35°
Trigger
Natural
Trigger: additional info
Cornice Triggered
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Avalanche Problem
New Snow
Weak Layer
Density Change
Depth
20"
Width
60'
Vertical
500'
Comments

Saw this avalanche in West Monitor this morning, looks to have occurred early morning. The trigger was a natural cornice drop that calved off and ran down the slope approximately 300 vertical feet then released a soft slab avalanche mid-slope, widening to 60 or so feet about 1.5ft deep and running another 500ft to the flats, looked like new snow only but the crown was quite clear. I suspect it ran on the density inversion at the bottom of the storm snow, that I was feeling all day.

Photos: looking down on the cornice trail, you can see where it triggered a soft slab that propagated out to about 60ft wide.

Coordinates