Brett Carroll

Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Superior

Mt Superior, South Face

11,000'

South

40°

50'

1,500'

Unintentionally triggered a soft wind slab. I believe that warming due to sun exposure contributed to the avalanche, as several tracks had been made down the same portion of the face earlier in the day, most likely when the wind slab was colder, harder, and more stubborn. The slide ran faster and farther than I would have expected, entraining quite a bit of snow on the way down. A couple thoughts on the human factor aspect of this avalanche: - Social acceptance: My friend was visiting from Moab, had never skied off Superior before, and was excited to check it out. Perhaps this influenced me to overlook some signs of wind loading. Tracks: This was a big one. Nearly 2 dozen people had skied the South Face on a variety of aspects before we dropped in, without incident. In the past I have considered other tracks to be a reasonable sign of stability when dealing with a wind slab hazard when there is no persistent weak layer involved. Today there were a couple previous tracks through our line, and the second skier in our party triggered the slide.