Avalanche: Santiago Ridge

Observer Name
Stetson
Observation Date
Monday, February 26, 2018
Avalanche Date
Monday, February 26, 2018
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Mineral Fork » Santiago Ridge
Location Name or Route
Cardiff to Mineral
Elevation
9,900'
Aspect
Northeast
Trigger
Natural
Trigger: additional info
Cornice Triggered
Avalanche Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Weak Layer
Facets
Depth
5'
Comments

Out with some local pro skiers today in Cardiff and Mineral. When we gained the ridge in Cardiff we got a good look at a grounder just south of GB No in Mineral. HS-NC-D2.5-G/O.... Looked like a cornice failure on the ridgeline triggered a slab on one of our mid-pack weaknesses (possibly the same layer as the Room of Doom avalanche). This slide then triggered a deeper avalanche in an immediately adjacent path which in turn triggered 2 other, smaller grounders to the north: Both ~5' deep at their deepest and about 100' wide. And completely unconnected. Very interesting sympathetic release IMO. The larger avalanche snapped small trees and left an extenive debris pile. Thinking this happened sometime overnight as there were groups in Mineral yesterday and this slide was not reported.

Comments

Photo Comments: Orange line indicates initial avalanche, red lines indicate sympathetic slides

Coordinates