Observer Name
Stegmaier
Observation Date
Friday, December 8, 2023
Avalanche Date
Friday, December 8, 2023
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Flagstaff Ridge
Location Name or Route
Flagstaff shoulder
Elevation
9,500'
Aspect
East
Trigger
Skier
Trigger: additional info
Unintentionally Triggered
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Avalanche Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Weak Layer
New Snow
Depth
10"
Width
30'
Comments
Triggered a small wind slab avalanche while skiing the bottom 1/3 of Flagstaff gully.
On the skin up we noticed some red flags including evidence of wind loading, wind transported snow and some cracking in the top 8-10 inches of the snow.
Avalanche was triggered while descending, near the bottom of the shoulder, after one in our party skied a bit farther south onto a slightly more east aspect.. The small transition in aspect seems to be the cause. Broke about 2ft uphill of skier and 30 ft in front.
Avalanche ran 100ft downhill to a less steep bench.
Coordinates