Avalanche

Avalanche: Little Water

JaredSalt Lake
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Avalanche

Slab Width
21 m
Weak Layer
Facets
Trigger Type
Skier
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Slab Thickness
61 cm
Start Zone Aspect
North
Avalanche Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Start Zone Elevation
2347 m

While staying at the Big water yurt we went out for a little walk in the snow. Unsure of what the new and still falling snow was doing (3/9) we chose to keep it real mellow. Walking though open meadows we heard some wumphing and experienced the snow collapsing underneath us. Confirming our suspicion that things were touchy, we decided again to play it safe and stay on low angle terrain. Went up the little water summer trail to the bridge and decided we would turn around there. While eating a snack we heard a loud whumph and I sunk about 2 inches down. The crack propagated and spread to the other side of the creek leaving a 2 ft crown and sliding into the creek. Pretty eye opening to see how even in low angle terrain, any rollover or feature crossing into 30° can be consequential. It was a great day to play in the snow and happy we didn't push our luck in a powder frenzy.