Observer Name
Stauss
Observation Date
Sunday, January 5, 2025
Avalanche Date
Saturday, January 4, 2025
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Raymond Peak
Location Name or Route
Mount Raymond East Face
Elevation
9,500'
Aspect
East
Trigger
Natural
Avalanche Type
Soft Slab
Avalanche Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Weak Layer
Facets
Depth
2'
Width
300'
Vertical
600'
Comments
Travel today took us up Lee's Fork to the top of Reynolds Peak for our first run. Upon gaining the ridge, I observed a substantial crown on Mount Raymond's prominent East Face. Considering our distance, it was hard to make out the depth of the crown or the failure plane, though it looks like part of the slide went to rocks. So, it seems like this could have easily broken on our facet layer, possible that it failed on melt freeze crust facet combo. Either way, it confirmed today's forecast of High danger. It's also a good example of how natural features like trees/ rocks can connect a slab, and how slabs can break midslope.
Trigger unknown, though I imagine it was natural from the weight of our recent loading event.
Photos of Raymond: zoomed in on the crown, and the whole face for the size relative to the path.
Comments
Lanza photo
Coordinates