Avalanche

Avalanche: Big Cottonwood Canyon

Craig GordonSalt Lake
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Quick report

Slope Angle
37°

Avalanche

Slab Width
76 m
Weak Layer
Density Change
Trigger Type
Natural
Vertical Fall
137 m
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Slab Thickness
36 cm
Start Zone Aspect
Northeast
Avalanche Problem
New Snow
Start Zone Elevation
3048 m

Spun a few predawn laps on the Milly side of Brighton. As the light improved I noticed a surprisingly well connected, natural soft slab in the upper bowl. Upon investigation I found the storm snow reactive to my additional weight and while isolated, got a few steep sections of my uptrack to collapse and produce shooting cracks. Not the kind of big booming collapses you hear early winter, but enough to let you know there's a buried weakness underfoot. A mid storm inversion seems a likely suspect resulting in a very active day in both BCC and LCC.