Avalanche: Back Bowls

Observer Name
B
Observation Date
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Avalanche Date
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Brighton Perimeter » Back Bowls
Location Name or Route
Brighton Back Bowls/Old Reliable
Elevation
10,300'
Aspect
North
Slope Angle
Unknown
Trigger
Natural
Trigger: additional info
Cornice Triggered
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Weak Layer
Facets
Depth
Unknown
Width
175'
Vertical
250'
Comments

Unfortunately no photos, skies were obscured and visibility was limited. Entire slope appeared to release naturally, and it looked like a small piece of cornice on lookers left in the steep cliff area may have triggered it. Not much hard slab debris in the deposition zone, and what was observed was mostly four finger hard. The debris pile at its apex was at least a meter and a half deep.

Of Note: During the time when investigating this slide, the West winds picked up from Calm to Light and the 4 to 6 inches of very light density snow that had fallen in the past few hours became very reactive and a natural Dry Loose Avalanche Cycle ensued. It lasted about 10 minutes and rivers of fresh flows were streaming off the cliffs and entraining minimal amounts of new snow only.

Coordinates