These Giant Avalanches in the Wasatch Mountains Near Provo, UT, This Week Defy Logic and Understanding

Martin Kuprianowicz | | Post Tag for AvalancheAvalanche

The Provo zone of Utah’s Wasatch Mountains experienced extreme avalanche danger this week, and now that the clouds have parted, the aftermath of the vicious avalanche cycle that tore through the range can be obvserved. 

The avalanches in the video above, captured by pilot Matt Galland, caused massive destruction and are shown to have run thousands of feet in vertical distance, with debris piles dozens of feet high.

The forest that the slides ran through didn’t stand a chance and was clear-cut by the giant avalanches. 

Spooky, but cool. 

Galland’s video shows the destructive force of nature and how much damage avalanches can bring when the conditions align just right for chaos, as they did this week. 

A persistent weak layer still lurks in much of Utah’s snowpack, giving potential for large, destructive avalanches such as these, and additional caution is advised when recreating in Utah’s backcountry at this time. 

Posted by Martin Kuprianowicz |

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2 thoughts on “These Giant Avalanches in the Wasatch Mountains Near Provo, UT, This Week Defy Logic and Understanding”

  1. Please explain how they defy logic (as the poster above asked). Lots of snow, a tricky persistent weak layer, wind, and extreme avalanche danger seems to be the recipe for catastrophic-level, full-path avalanches, so they actually seem quite logical.

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