Avalanche — La Sal & Abajo Mountains, Utah

2012-03-03 · La Sal & Abajo Mountains, Utah

Event narrative

A group of four snowmobile riders were heading into the Beaver Basin area and noticed the snow pack becoming increasingly unstable by the late morning hours. The group found a turn-around point in a nearby meadow which was in the avalanche zone. The last rider heading to the meadow turn-around point was caught by a massive avalanche which released higher up on the mountain. The victim and his snowmobile were buried under about twelve feet of snow, and were not able to be extricated until the next day. The top of the avalanche path was near the 11,200 foot level and traveled down about 1250 vertical feet with a path width of up to 800 feet.

Wider weather episode

A series of storms brought significant snow accumulations to the La Sal Mountains since early February. The final storm prior to the deadly avalanche deposited over 2 feet of new snow on northwest aspects near the accident site and created conditions favorable for avalanches as a soft slab snow layer was overlaid onto a hardened weak surface.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 437380. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.