Avalanche
2 of Friday’s human-triggered avalanches came so close to the Little Cottonwood Road (SR-210) that the Utah Department of Transportation closed a portion of the road (shown above):
“…two [avalanches] (way too late in the day to be skiing south facing) skier-triggered wet loose that came close enough to LCC road that UDOT closed a portion of the road. ” – Utah Avalanche Center, 4/17/20
10 human-triggered avalanches in the Wasatch mountains of Utah on Friday added to the 31 human-triggered avalanches that occurred on Thursday to make 41 human-triggered avalanches in the Wasatch in only 2-days.
A 2015 study on non-fatal avalanche involvements estimated that 90% of these go unreported.
Is it possible that there were over 400 human-triggered slides the past 2-days?
12 avalanches were reported in Utah yesterday, Friday, April 17th 2020, ten of which were human-triggered.
“Another 12 avalanches [10 human-triggered] were reported to our office yesterday that included a cross-loaded wind slab on Lake Peak (NE facing at 10,200′), at least two soft slabs running on last week’s crust/facet layer in Pioneer Bowl (NNE at 9800′) and the Guild Line (9400′ at NW in Silver Fork) and two (way too late in the day to be skiing south facing) skier-triggered wet loose that came close enough to LCC road that UDOT closed a portion of the road. Photos below include lower Pioneer and Lake Peak/No Name.” – Utah Avalanche Center, 4/18/20
The Utah Avalanche Center said the following in their avalanche forecast on Friday morning:
“Today has avalanche written all over it”
– Utah Avalanche Center, 4/17/20
On Thursday, April 16th 2020, the Utah Avalanche Center reported 31 human-triggered avalanches.
At least four people were caught and carried, with one person suffering an injury on Thursday.
Today’s (Saturday, April 18th, 2020) avalanche forecast is rated at “Considerable” with the following details:
