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Avalanche: Hoyt Peak

Observer Name
Michael Janulaitis
Observation Date
Thursday, January 5, 2017
Avalanche Date
Thursday, January 5, 2017
Region
Uintas » Hoyt Peak
Location Name or Route
Hoyt Peak
Elevation
10,000'
Aspect
Northeast
Slope Angle
40°
Trigger
Skier
Trigger: additional info
Unintentionally Triggered
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Avalanche Problem
New Snow
Weak Layer
New Snow/Old Snow Interface
Depth
18"
Width
250'
Vertical
400'
Caught
1
Carried
1
Comments

I set off this R4 D2 slide on Hoyt Peak today and got caught. Prior and up above I safely ski cut and sluffed out the slope in the very steep terrain. I have been watching this slope all season and it had not yet slid which is unusual. I was hoping the snowpack had bridged the covered rock band in the top third of the slope and in fact I was right. Although I had already sluffed out the slope, I made the mistake of thinking the slope would not slab out on me or if it did I would be able to get off to the side quick enough. After carefully skiing the 50+ degree terrain up top I straight ran the even steeper covered rock band. Once I cleared the rock band and now on lower angle prime avalanche terrain, I made the mistake of checking a little speed which resulted in the slab pulling out. I lost a pole, goggles and my dignity but left with my life, my skis, my hat, a pole and my pack.

Coordinates