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Avalanche: Cascade Ridge

Observer Name
Dave Jarvis
Observation Date
Tuesday, April 11, 2023
Avalanche Date
Tuesday, April 11, 2023
Region
Provo » Cascade Ridge
Location Name or Route
Cascade Mountain North Couloir
Elevation
10,400'
Aspect
West
Trigger
Natural
Avalanche Type
Wet Slab
Avalanche Problem
Wet Snow
Weak Layer
Wet grains
Depth
6'
Width
300'
Comments
I think this came down later on Tuesday. The summit North East of the pin, has no Crown, but the brush
looks swept. I couldn't confirm that from the snow surface though. A clear Crown Fracture is in the
area of the pin. The South side rises like stair steps, the North side drops more like a saw blade. With
a less obvious connecting fracture at the top. Different than the arcing Crown Fracture from the
avalanche to the South on Sunday. Snow swept down the low areas and to both sides. There are
several additional Crown Fractures down slope on both sides. Running horizontally. That may have
been sympathetic. There are two areas on the north side of the gully which are scoured partly to the
base. I think one of them was from Sunday with a trigger up slope to the North. But both got
scoured today with some dirt kicked up.
The trigger would have been a combination of afternoon solar heating, with additional green
housing from natural terrain shape. Interestingly, the main Crown Fracture is tilted a bit to the
North West. The vertical stepping seems a bit strange.
The only Couloirs on the West side of Cascade that have potential for affecting Squaw Peak Road are the
two on the South end. They do on occasion deeply bury 100 yards or so of road.
Two bowls left to run?
Coordinates