Avalanche

Avalanche: Claytons

xSalt Lake
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Avalanche

Slab Width
53 m
Weak Layer
New Snow/Old Snow Interface
Trigger Type
Snowboarder
Vertical Fall
107 m
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Slab Thickness
25 cm
Trigger Detail
Intentionally Triggered
Start Zone Aspect
Northeast
Avalanche Problem
Wind Slab
Start Zone Elevation
3200 m

From photo you can see the initial cornice/cut trigger that broke out piece of wind slab that was approximately 35 feet wide. It is visible in the upper right hand corner of the photo. Then as the first rider descended onto the slope he preformed a slope cut that initiated the larger/primary slide and or fracture. The fracture descended down slope right to left beneath the cliff band. The slope appeared to be cross loaded from the Northerly winds that were occurring overnight and into the morning hours. The rider was not caught. The debris ran to the flats and fanned out to be about 200 feet across; and it's depth was estimated by the rider to be about 1.5 feet deep.