The danger roses for the Salt Lake mountains
Summary: Two to three feet of snowfall from Wednesday, April 1, and Thursday, April 2, became reactive on Friday, April 3, with numerous human-triggered avalanches occurring. Avalanches involving wet-loose snow were reported throughout much of the week, and soft slab avalanches involving dry snow were triggered through Tuesday, April 7.
Friday, April 3: A very active day with 18 reported human-triggered avalanches, where 10 riders were caught and carried. One skier sustained injuries that required an evacuation by helicopter. The largest avalanche occurred on Sunset Peak and initially involved a remotely-triggered avalanche, which sympathetically triggered a second avalanche. Photo below. The connected avalanches measured over 500 feet wide and were 12-18 inches deep. Like most other reported avalanches from this day, this slide failed just above a crust that formed after the April 1 storm during a period of greenhousing, and was subsequently buried on April 2 by storm and wind-driven snow.
[Avalanche on Sunset Peak]
Saturday, April 4: Despite strong sunshine, light winds and cool temperatures kept the snow surface cool, with minor wet-loose avalanches were reported. Two experienced riders triggered a dry snow avalanche on a wind-loaded slope at Box Elder Peak that was 18 inches deep and 50 feet wide.
Sunday, April 5: Two additional soft slab avalanches were reported, Silver Fork Headwall (photo below) and Scotties Bowl. Both avalanches were triggered on wind-loaded slopes and were up to one foot deep and 40 feet wide.
[Avalanche on Silver Fork Headwall]
Monday, April 6: Avalanches involving wet-loose snow were reported, including the activity shown below at the Spire in White Pine Canyon. Although no backcountry avalanches involving dry, soft slabs were reported, control work at Cottonwood resorts triggered soft slab avalanches failing on the April 1 crust layer, indicating this weakness is still present in the snowpack.
[Wet-loose avalanches on east-facing terrain in upper White Pine Canyon.]
Tuesday, April 7: Another soft slab avalanche was reported from the backcountry, this on a steep, northeast-facing slope in Wolverine Cirque, where the rider was briefly caught and carried before they were able to ski off of the slab. This was captured in the video shown below.
Wednesday, April 8: No backcountry avalanches were reported.
Thursday, April 9: No backcountry avalanches were reported.
