Utah Skier Records Being Swept Away By Large Avalanche
This past weekend, a skier was struck by an avalanche while skiing in the backcountry near Salt Lake City, Utah.
Steve Gourley, one of those involved in the incident, shared the following helmet camera footage.
The skier triggered this hard slab avalanche below Gobblers Knob in Davis Gulch.
According to a report Gourley shared on the Utah Avalanche Center (UAC) website:
3 skiers approached gobblers south summit (10224) from the north. After reaching the summit, skier 1 skied the ridge to the west of davis gulch and radioed when they were in a good spot. Skier 2 entered davis gulch and skied 400 vert pulling out of the run to the north/east. Skier 3 watched skier 2 pull up and entered following the same line. 200 vert into the run, skier 3 caused a hard slab avalanche that shattered 50 meters below and over to the ridge west of davis gulch. Skier 2 shouted at skier 3 and then to skier 1. Skier 1 moved to a safer area. Skier 2 kept eyes on skier 3 and started to ski down the slope. Skier 3 was carried 650 vert reaching a speed of 27mph, losing a pole and needing to dig out one ski to be free from the debris. After the initial avalanche, the entire west side of the gulch sympathetically released. The final debris pile was way down around 7800 feet.
In its daily forecast, the UAC used the Davis Gulch incident as an example of the primary avalanche problem impacting the backcountry around Salt Lake City: persistent weak layers (PWL) buried between two to five feet deep. When a PWL falters, it can release a massive snow slab.
"It is becoming more difficult to trigger these hard slabs in deeper snowpack areas," the UAC wrote. "But Sunday's close call on Gobbler's and yesterday's natural [avalanche] in Mineral Fork tell the tale. If you're looking for trouble, you'll probably find it in steep, thin, rocky terrain."
The UAC issued a tip, too: "Don't put any faith in other tracks on the slope" when trying to navigate terrain with a PWL. Just because someone else has already skied a run doesn't mean it won't slide.
To read the report from Davis Gulch, click here.
Related: "Ultimate Ski Bum" Identified In Whistler
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