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Avalanche: Greens Basin

Observer Name
Espar
Observation Date
Sunday, March 5, 2023
Avalanche Date
Sunday, March 5, 2023
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Greens Basin
Location Name or Route
Greens Basin
Elevation
8,000'
Aspect
North
Trigger
Skier
Depth
8"
Width
25'
Comments
After skiing Green's Basin and noticing few signs of instability we ended up slightly below the standard exit track that wraps around the ridge to low angle west facing terrain, and considered exiting the steeper north facing terrain instead. I did a ski cut of a rollover that was probably around 40 degrees and easily triggered this small avalanche.
The crown was only about 8" so it failed on a density change in yesterday's storm snow. It wasn't enough to bury anyone and only ran maybe 50', but definitely showed how touchy the new storm snow is. Interestingly, the bed surface looked obviously wind loaded, and I wondered if a direct hit from a skier would have triggered a deeper break. We didn't stick around to find out, opting to put our skins back on and climb back to the standard exit.
Coordinates