Avalanche: Scotts Peak

Observer Name
mark white
Observation Date
Sunday, January 22, 2017
Avalanche Date
Sunday, January 22, 2017
Region
Salt Lake » Park City Ridgeline » Scotts Peak
Location Name or Route
Scott's Peak
Elevation
9,700'
Aspect
Northeast
Slope Angle
35°
Trigger
Skier
Trigger: additional info
Intentionally Triggered
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Avalanche Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Weak Layer
New Snow/Old Snow Interface
Depth
2'
Width
100'
Vertical
100'
Comments

I triggered this avalanche on the east side of Scott's Peak kind of intentionally, I was walking along the edge tapping a small cornice when the stiff wind slab popped out behind me, I dropped off the edge but didn't get carried. The crown averaged around a foot and a half, maybe 3 feet at the deepest tapering down on the flanks, and ran about 100ft on to lower angle terain, this intern triggered another pocket that popped out slid about five feet and stopped showing the staunch wall and the flanks clearly. I was also getting cracking on the ridge on my approach. Not sure if it would be categorize as hard slab or a soft slab but it wasn't like the light density sluffs and soft slabs of the last two days it was thick and inverted snow that wanted to drag you in with it. The wind was cranking on the ridge line and loading the lee aspect with dense wind blown snow, and it seemed to have released on lighter density snow from a few days ago.

Photos: the crown, the pocket that released sympathetically but only slid a few feet and cracking on the ridge line. Photos were tough the wind was blowing so much snow the crown was disappearing by the time I left.