Observer Name
Henry Z
Observation Date
Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Avalanche Date
Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Wolverine Cirque
Location Name or Route
Wolverine
Elevation
10,700'
Aspect
Northwest
Trigger
Skier
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Avalanche Problem
New Snow
Weak Layer
Density Change
Depth
8"
Width
30'
Caught
1
Carried
1
Comments
Our group of 4 skinned in from Brighton to the bottom of Wolverine cirque. At 11 am there was evidence of one slab that already released on the eastern side with a crown easily visible from a distance. As we ascended up a north aspect, the eastern aspects sluffed significantly from several descents. The far west aspect showed no activity from several skier descents.
We chose to ski Pressure Drop due to its large clear runout and lack of sun exposure. At 1pm, first skier in our group entered and triggered a fracture in front of him on his third turn. He skied onto the slab as it fractured across and down the entire chute in front of him. Skier was carried and came to rest partially buried up to the waist.
Two adjacent north-facing chutes also released similarly in the next 10 minutes.
Coordinates