Avalanche: Cardiff Pass

Observer Name
Brian Babbitt
Observation Date
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Avalanche Date
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Cardiff Pass
Location Name or Route
pole line pass
Elevation
10,100'
Aspect
South
Slope Angle
37°
Trigger
Skier
Trigger: additional info
Unintentionally Triggered
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Depth
12"
Width
175'
Vertical
450'
Comments

Remote triggered from about 50 ft away.

Forecaster Note: UDOT LCC forecaster Chris Covington and I went to look at the slide today and found the that the failure plane was .5mm rounds and a few 1mm rounding facets above a 2" thick melt freeze crust. The avalanche collapsed the variable rime/mf crust (2cm above the mf crust). One could pass this off as a typical crust/facet sandwich, but the facets did not seem weak or loose - they seemed more rounded and chalky, even "damp" - though they were not. Collapse failure must have been the ticket here. When you combine this southwest facing slope and another (sw-facing) 3' deep avalanche in Dry Fork (backside of Alta), and multiple collapses on due south, you know your snowpack has problems.

Hardesty

Coordinates