Observer Name
Pete K
Observation Date
Friday, January 6, 2017
Avalanche Date
Thursday, January 5, 2017
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Broads Fork » Diving Board
Location Name or Route
Broads Diving Board
Elevation
9,800'
Aspect
East
Slope Angle
33°
Trigger
Natural
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Avalanche Problem
New Snow
Weak Layer
New Snow/Old Snow Interface
Depth
3'
Width
300'
Vertical
1,250'
Comments
Strong northwest winds have cross loaded the upper elevations of Bonkers and Twin Peaks. Windslabs breaking above the Diving Board sent snow down one of the gullies which caused the entire upper portion of the run to pull out. Slab broke on the new/old snow layer. The old layer was hard and smooth, no graupel was seen, but could have been carried down in the slide. Slide ran full track and entrained much of the snow from the past storm.
Additional windslab pullout occurred skiers right in Bonkers but only ran 200 ft. No cracking or collapsing was observed during the break up Bonkers, but I stopped well short of the saddle because of the increasing slope angle and how the top portion was wind affected. Cold temps killed my camera, no photos this time.