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Avalanche: Broads Fork

Observer Name
Bourret
Observation Date
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
Avalanche Date
Monday, March 20, 2023
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Broads Fork
Location Name or Route
Upper Broads Fork
Elevation
10,000'
Aspect
Northeast
Trigger
Natural
Avalanche Type
Dry Loose
Avalanche Problem
New Snow
Depth
8"
Width
50'
Comments
Cresting the knoll into upper Broadsfork below Bonkers around 10:30 this morning, it was evident that there was a large natural avy cycle between yesterday's storm and this morning. Between Bonkers and Jepson's Folly, I saw 10-15 new-snow avalanches, generally E thru NE and 250' to 2000' long. Most slides had 1-2" of fresh snow over the debris, but several appeared to occur after snow subsided around 6 AM this morning. The new-snow slides appeared to initiate as point releases below cliff bands and glide cracks but picked up considerable momentum and propagated down 5-10" to the surface of the prior storm (likely wind or sun crust) in some locations. The most impressive new-snow slide occurred just around the corner from Blue Ice in the upper basin. It initiated in the cliffs below the East Twin and carried down approximately 2000' with enough momentum to carry up the opposite slope about 200'.
In addition to the storm snow slides, there was a large glide avalanche that appeared very recent but probably occurred before this last storm. It broke 8-10' deep, 150' wide and extended about 1500' with some car-sized debris. There was a second large glide crown midway down the slide path that may have been triggered by the initial glide avy above.
I observed small shooting cracks in the new snow on the final face up to the saddle between Jepson's Folly and the East Twin. There was no propagation upon ski cutting Blue Ice, although I triggered minor sloughing.
Coordinates