Observer Name
Michael Janulaitis
Observation Date
Sunday, March 14, 2021
Avalanche Date
Sunday, March 14, 2021
Region
Uintas » Hoyt's Peak
Location Name or Route
Hoyt Peak
Elevation
9,700'
Aspect
South
Slope Angle
32°
Trigger
Natural
Avalanche Type
Hard Slab
Avalanche Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Weak Layer
Density Change
Depth
13"
Width
700'
Vertical
250'
Comments
I discovered this 700ft wide hard wind slab avalanche on my way down the mountain today. The bed surface comprised of cohesive small grains, no crust. This appears to have slide on a density inversion within the last few weeks of snow. The debris pile was over 3 meters deep. I did not get up to the crown so I'm not sure about the slope angle. I inferred 32 degrees by measuring the angles in the pics.
Today the NE wind was on strong all day blowing old growth beetle kill down and lots of snow creating wide spread fat wind slabs. Wind slabs were prevalent on all aspects in the upper elevations.
