Avalanche: Little Cottonwood Canyon

Observer Name
Luke
Observation Date
Monday, February 24, 2025
Avalanche Date
Friday, February 21, 2025
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon
Location Name or Route
Goat
Elevation
9,000'
Aspect
South
Trigger
Skier
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Avalanche Problem
New Snow
Depth
Unknown
Width
Unknown
Vertical
1,000'
Comments
Skied this South Facing LCC Couloir at daybreak. The Line has a steep, treed headwall that funnels into a long, shallow chute. My partner and I both had radios, so I was hopeful that my partner would be able to radio me as I skied if anything was amiss, but when he went to turn on his radio, the battery was dead, so that was an issue. I skied the upper headwall and the chute with speed; nothing cracked and the snow felt stable. I skied past a few point releases and smaller slides, but nothing was moving around me. I skied a long way, probably 1500-2000 vert before coming to a stop on an older debris field from another chute that funneled in. I was lucky enough to turn around and see the plume of snow coming down the line from behind me. I beelined for the bushes, the only high ground I could gain. The slide rushed past me and kept going for a while. after it finally stopped, I called my partner above; he stated that he saw a small slough behind me halfway down the chute, but nothing big. I can only imagine I set off a slough which then picked up speed and ended up entraining a lot more snow. All the south facing couloirs in LCC are slide paths for a reason, and this time, this one slid on me.
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