VIDEO: Utah Skier Caught & Carried In Soft Slab Avalanche

Super odd choice for a soundtrack but I suppose if you survive an avalanche and catch it all on film you allowed to use whatever music fits your fancy. The following video is from Davis Gulch in Utah where a skier was caught and carried an avalanche with a 3 foot crown and 500 foot width. The slide ran 2000 vertical feet and skier was only partially buried.

Here’s the breakdown from the Utah Avalanche Center:

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.