Observer Name
Kevin S
Observation Date
Thursday, January 12, 2017
Avalanche Date
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Region
Ogden » Snowbasin Backcountry
Location Name or Route
Snowbasin sidecountry
Elevation
7,800'
Aspect
Southeast
Slope Angle
35°
Trigger
Unknown
Trigger: additional info
Repeater
Avalanche Type
Wet Slab
Avalanche Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Weak Layer
Density Change
Depth
Unknown
Width
Unknown
Vertical
700'
Comments
While descending one of my favorite side country runs adjacent to the Hells Canyon area I was surprised to find a considerable debris field buried under a 12 to 16 inch layer of new snow. At the time it was snowing lightly with flat light visibility so I did not notice the debris field where the run starts at the top. The debris field appeared to be about 50 plus yards across and the toe spanned about 75 yards of lower angle slope towards the bottom. Adjacent slopes my have released and added snow to the pile as well. Oddly enough the debris was not frozen solid underneath the new snow and thank goodness skied well. This avalanche path takes the snow leftish and into a small gully and again I was surprised to find this gully less like a gully today and more like a road with a level, although still uneven buried debris, single fall line surface that snaked through the bushy trees for about 100 yards as it tapered down narrower in width. This is a mid to lower elevation slope and saw very wet snow, if not rain, on 3 days ago on Monday and Tuesday. It took alot of snow to fill that gully I wonder if more of these are lurking out there.
Coordinates