Avalanche

Avalanche: Rocky Point

Greg GagneSalt Lake
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Avalanche

Slab Width
76 m
Weak Layer
Facets
Trigger Type
Natural
Vertical Fall
122 m
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Slab Thickness
41 cm
Start Zone Aspect
East
Avalanche Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Start Zone Elevation
3139 m

Mark White reported an avalanche on Thanksgiving in Rocky Point area (https://utahavalanchecenter.org/avalanche/40265), and it seems to have repeated sometime during the morning of Saturday Nov 24. The east/northeast face of Rocky Point was wind-loaded from strong westerly winds. The crown was 30-45 cms (12-18") - perhaps closer to 60 cms (24") in places - with a wind-loaded slab that failed on a faceted layer, all on top of the October rain crust. What is concerning is that it's telling us avalanching on top of the old layer of facets haven't cleaned out slopes, so they are just primed for a repeating event. (SS-A-R4-D2.5-O)

This was a large, connected slide - 250' wide - that apparently ran down to the flats, although hard to tell with very limited visibility.