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Avalanche: Uintas

Observer Name
Ted Scroggin
Observation Date
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Avalanche Date
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Region
Uintas
Location Name or Route
north side of Elizabeth Pass
Elevation
10,200'
Aspect
East
Slope Angle
35°
Trigger
Snowmobiler
Trigger: additional info
Unintentionally Triggered
Avalanche Type
Hard Slab
Weak Layer
Depth Hoar
Depth
3'
Width
500'
Vertical
200'
Comments

This slide was already reported to Craig Gordon with a nice video by the party involved. The area is east facing with many acres of flat terrain where the winds can grab lots of snow on deposit it onto this east facing slope. The snow pack in this area is typically thinner and weaker the further east you go from the Mirror Lake Highway.

Comments

This hard slab avalanche was possibly triggered lower on the slope where the slab was thinner. Once the weak snow collapsed, it pulled-out into the deeper part of the slab just off the ridgeline.

Comments

I observed this other slide just to the south of the bigger avalanche on a similar aspect.

Comments

The general snow pack set-up in the Elizabeth Pass area, 10,000' in elevation.

Coordinates