Avalanche
- Slab Width
- 2 m
- Trigger Type
- Natural
- Avalanche Type
- Soft Slab
- Slab Thickness
- 15 cm
- Start Zone Aspect
- East
- Avalanche Problem
- New Snow
- Start Zone Elevation
- 2682 m
South Fork of Big Springs Hollow of the South Fork of the Provo. Around 8600 ft elevation, we noticed enormous cracks penetrating nearly the entire snowpack on a 29 degree, East aspect slope. Because there was little danger in the runout zone of any slide, we investigated the crack and dug a pit, confirming that beneath the snowpack from the storms the last week or so was a very weak layer of snowpack. The cracks spanned better than 30 feet across. As we proceeded a hundred feet higher, we saw evidence of a small slide on the hillside above, 8800 feet, East aspect. It looks to be some kind of loose snow avalanche. A few minutes later on a North aspect slope we heard a loud whoomphing sound characteristic of collapsing of the snowpack.