Snowboarder Triggers Avalanche In Little Cottonwood Canyon

Utah has bounced back... big time.

With interlodge lockdowns lifted, tons of fresh pow from the latest storm, and pristine conditions to be had, we all knew what was coming next: avalanches.

The caption beneath the video, posted by News Anchor and Reporter Brian Schnee of KUTV2 News, read, "Avalanche in Little Cottonwood Canyon yesterday triggered by a snowboarder. No one caught. It stopped short of SR-210."

The slide was 3 feet deep and 600 feet wide, according to UAC. It covered a distance of 2,750 feet before it stopped a few hundred feet away from state Route 210.

The location was Mt. Superior/Monte Cristo Gully.

Because Utah just saw a crazy storm cycle that resulted in 70 to 80 inches of snow over the past couple days, Alta Ski Area faced a 34-hour interlodge (a safety precaution where everyone must remain inside because of avalanche risk) over the long weekend.

Now, people are back out there, and the snow is deep.

Related: Utah Ski Resorts Bounce Back With 80+ Inch Storm

Utah Avalanche Center reported the full story on this particular avalanche, giving us insight into what happened.

The avalanche occurred on January 16th, as stated, in Monte Cristo Gully.

The cause was a snowboarder, and it was unintentionally triggered.

The comments from the party involved in the avalanche read: "Today while skinning along the south ridge off the Mt Superior summit, I triggered an avalanche on the western aspect of Superior that slid into the Monte Cristo gully. It broke underfoot and the entire slope spider webbed, propagating approx 600-800' in front of and below where I stood. Crown varied in size, averaging 2-3', with the tallest crowns being about 4'. The bed surface of the slide revealed a couple inches of facets that didn't get cleared out."

"This wind-drifted snow avalanche failed on the western part of the bowl, propagated onto the southwest and ran though the south facing terrain towards the road. The slide ran nearly 3k before stopping a few hundred feet shy of the road. The video below was taken from near the top of gad 2 at Snowbird."

This was a hard slab avalanche, which is a slab avalanche of relatively dense, compacted snow.

According to Avalanche.org, these slabs are "hard and dense enough that it is difficult to push a single finger into them and are often characterized by hard, blocky debris."

"Hard slabs are difficult to manage because stiffer slabs tend to give less feedback and are more likely to fail far above you. Hard slabs are notorious for unpredictable failures. You’re most likely to trigger one from a thinner or softer part of the slab, such as near rock outcrops or near the edge of a slope."

Some resorts aren't playing around with these conditions, even inbounds: Ian Greenwood of POWDER reported that Brighton Resort, Utah's Milly Bowl, opened yesterday only to those properly equipped with avalanche safety gear, including a beacon, probe, and shovel.

Enjoy these powder days, but most importantly, stay safe out there, folks.

Related: What It's Like Skiing At Alta After A 34 Hour Interlodge

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