Incidente

Avalanche: Stupid Chute

Jim MennellSalt Lake
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Quick report

Slope Angle
42°

Avalanche

Slab Width
91 m
Weak Layer
New Snow
Trigger Type
Skier
Vertical Fall
122 m
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Slab Thickness
30 cm
Trigger Detail
Unintentionally Triggered
Start Zone Aspect
Northwest
Avalanche Problem
New Snow
Start Zone Elevation
3109 m

Around 11:30 a.m. today I was caught in a slab avalanche on Stupid Chute in Wolverine Cirque. Pictures of the slide attached. Approximately 50 feet from the chute entrance the snow started to slide and I could see spider web and the fracture line above me spreading toward Sushi Chute. The fracture line was several hundred feet wide (and wider than "typical" slides in that chute). I was carried several hundred feet and able to get myself out of the deposition zone. Was skiing solo. I had skied the area yesterday and the snow was wet and there appeared to be good bonding with the underlying snow pack. I had climbed up Mt. Millicent for access and there was an approximately 20 mph wind from the west and heavy slab deposits on the east fact of Milly. I watched a group test and ski cut the East Face and of Milly and release some large runs and decided against skiing that aspect. I anticipated that west facing and more protected aspects of Stupid Chute would be a safer route. I complete several ski cuts at the entrance (not much powder, solid pack) and approximately 30 feet into stupid chute (decent bonding with new snow, no noticeable wind slab). I then made 4-5 turns and the slide released.

Incident

Number Caught
1
Number Carried
1
Number Partly Buried
1