Sign Up for the Utah Snow and Avalanche Workshop (USAW) on December 7th!

Avalanche: Highline

Observer Name
MS
Observation Date
Sunday, February 18, 2024
Avalanche Date
Sunday, February 18, 2024
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Mineral Fork » Highline
Location Name or Route
Highline
Elevation
9,500'
Aspect
Northeast
Trigger
Snowboarder
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Avalanche Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Depth
11"
Width
50'
Vertical
300'
Comments
Our group of 3 ascended to the top of Highline in Mineral Fork. We discussed the strong westerly winds that were loading the NE-facing slopes as we got to the ridge. To the lookers left in the video, we didn't see any signs of a wind slab. Rider 1 dropped in to the lookers left, did a ski cut, and had no results. Rider 2 dropped in along the same path as Rider 1 without any results either. Rider 3 decided to go lookers right where the terrain was steeper and had obvious signs of wind loading. Rider 3 dropped in to do a ski cut and immediately released a soft wind slab that ran a couple hundred feet down the slope.
Video
Coordinates