Avalanche

Avalanche: Snake Creek

BSalt Lake
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Quick report

Slope Angle
33°

Avalanche

Slab Width
24 m
Weak Layer
Density Change
Trigger Type
Skier
Vertical Fall
30 m
Avalanche Type
Hard Slab
Slab Thickness
25 cm
Trigger Detail
Unintentionally Triggered
Start Zone Aspect
South
Avalanche Problem
Wind Slab
Start Zone Elevation
2743 m

Triggered this Wind Slab (See Photo 1) when skiing down, saw the crack and skied off to rider's right with no incident. By 1130, ESE and S facing slopes with angles > 25 degrees were beginning to pick up Solar/Heat. They were damp about 5 cm down, and it appeared that this may have helped contribute to the reactivity of these lingering Wind Slabs. This was just one where we were able to initiate cracking and subsequent Slabs that were Pencil Plus in Hand Hardness. There was also evidence that there had been a much larger Wind Slab that had run in the steep gully/gut of the Big Daddy's within the past 48 hours. See Photo 2.

On top of this, widespread Loose Wet was observed on Steep ESE, S and SSW as noted by small roller balls.