How do you even begin to describe the avalanche activity? In just two days, our area has seen two tragic accidents, and we recorded an additional 40 avalanches in the Salt Lake zone. That is only what has been reported, processed, and entered. The true number is almost certainly higher. The vast majority were soft slabs, with a few larger hard slab avalanches and very limited dry loose activity.

Most of these avalanches broke 2 to 3 feet deep on average, likely at the new snow old snow interface sitting on weak faceted grains. A few were smaller, around 10 to 20 inches deep, while several hard slabs reached up to 4 feet deep. Reported widths ranged from isolated pockets 20 to 50 feet wide to broad propagating slabs stretching 900 to 1,500 feet across. This was a widespread cycle. Below are just a few of the standouts. Many were large and unsurvivable avalanches, but the list is long. It is worth taking the time today to read through the recent activity.

A few standouts:

• Yellow Jacket Trees, northeast aspect at 8,800 feet on the north side of the gulch: a skier remotely triggered a 3 foot deep, 900 foot wide hard slab failing on faceted snow at the old new snow interface, producing multiple sympathetic avalanches across connected terrain.
• West Willow Ridgeline, northeast aspect at 9,300 feet: a natural soft slab avalanche broke 2.5 feet deep and propagated roughly 1,500 feet wide, failing on faceted snow at the old new snow interface. See photo below.
• Soldier Fork, north aspect at 8,200 feet: a skier remotely triggered a large hard slab avalanche 4 feet deep and roughly 900 feet wide, failing on faceted snow at the old new interface, removing the slab wall to wall but leaving much of the weak layer intact. A standout quote from observer, Mark White, "I’m planning on proceeding with extreme caution for the time being, being on or under any slope with the PWL and a slab on top is just looking for trouble in the near future."

Overall heat map from the Salt Lake Area mountains 2/18-2/19 as of 5AM, avalanches continue to trickle in...

Patrol teams also observed a broad natural storm cycle, with many soft slabs running during the height of the storm. Most were 2 to 3 feet deep and several hundred feet wide, with some larger D2 to D2.5 slides. A number of paths ran full track, especially in rocky and cliffy start zones. Even after the storm, remote triggers were still reported, including deeper slabs breaking 3 to 4 feet down and running long distances.

You can view all recent observations here.