Avalanche: Catherine's Pass

Observer Name
Giddings, Perkins, Grumbach
Observation Date
Wednesday, March 23, 2022
Avalanche Date
Monday, March 21, 2022
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Catherine's Pass
Location Name or Route
Catherine Pass
Elevation
10,500'
Aspect
South
Trigger
Natural
Depth
3"
Width
30'
Comments
Went back up Catherine Pass for a closer look at the wet loose slides we observed on Monday the 21st, all of which failed on the new-old snow interface following Sunday's storm, triggered from rock warming in the rock band above. Debris fields ranged from 50 to 110 cms in depth, more than enough to knock a rider off their feet. These avalanches ran ~100 feet.
Up on top of Mt. Wolverine, we observed two debris fields from long running sluffs out of the ENE facing chutes across Wolverine Cirque. These were presumably wet loose or skier triggered in the days following Sunday's storm. We did not investigate the bed surface or starting zones of these slides, which arrested just above the cirque floor.
Photo 1: Deposition zone of a WL-N-R1-D1-I on the South face of Mt. Wolverine
Photo 2: More WL slides to lookers left of the first
Photo 3: Depth of the debris field from photo 1
Photo 4: Side view of the track, with visible flanks and starting zones
Photo 5: Long running sluffs on an ENE facing aspect in Wolverine Cirque.
Coordinates