Quick report
- Slope Angle
- 40°
Avalanche
- Slab Width
- 12 m
- Weak Layer
- New Snow/Old Snow Interface
- Trigger Type
- Skier
- Vertical Fall
- 46 m
- Avalanche Type
- Soft Slab
- Slab Thickness
- 41 cm
- Start Zone Aspect
- Northeast
- Avalanche Problem
- Persistent Weak Layer
- Start Zone Elevation
- 2682 m
Came across a recent avalanche that I don't think was reported. I'm pretty sure it happened 1/5/21. I might have mis-placed the pin on the map - it was at 40.621, -111.660, very low in ( I think) Chutes and Ladders. It was right at a rollover with a pair of old mining cables running down-fall line just above the snow. Steep, narrow, sheltered, and shaded gully with a very difficult exit to the road. Very complex terrain that I'm not very familiar with and, in retrospect, should not have been in. 2 ski tracks going into it, 2 coming out, quick beacon search yielded no results. I don't think the debris was deep enough to bury someone unless they were really unlucky, but there were multiple terrain features that could have serious consequences (trees, rocks, gully). Cracking occured over a wide area but it actually ran in a much smaller area, through some trees and into another steep, narrow gully. The bed surface was a thin facet layer above a hard refrozen layer, perhaps 2 1/2 ft total snow depth ( I forgot to measure the total depth). It is noteworthy that this happened at a low elevation; only a few hundred ft above and within sight of the road.