Avalanche

Avalanche: Powder Park

Cody BradfordSalt Lake
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Avalanche

Slab Width
46 m
Trigger Type
Skier
Slab Thickness
107 cm
Start Zone Aspect
North
Avalanche Problem
Wind Slab
Start Zone Elevation
2865 m

My ski partner and I intentionally triggered this wind slab as we walked the top of the ridge on the south side (north facing) of Powder Park 1. We were alone in the area. We first saw the deep crack shoot out from my ski tip, but then realized the slope below had actually slid about 50', which really surprised us, because that slope barely cracks 30 degrees, if at all. The crown was between 1 and 3.5' deep and between 150-180' wide. Due to the size of the blocks we released and the potential for others, we decided not to step down to investigate the slide. The slide is wider than the picture would indicate.