A late February storm slammed the Central Bear River Range.  Heavy snowfall and strong southwest winds overloaded buried persistent weak layers on many steep slopes.  When it cleared up on 2-28-07, we could see evidence of widespread natural avalanches.  Several, like this one on a northeast facing slope at around 9000' in the south box canyon lobe of Steep Hollow stepped down into deeply buried weak sugary snow. 

As is typical of avalanches involving depth hoar, this large natural hard slab released kind of low on the slope sometime around midday on 2-27-07.  The flat light prevents you from seeing the widespread and now shallowly buried new snow avalanche activity, which was evident all over the place.

With all the snow still on the slope above, I did not dare to get closer to the ~2'-6' deep by 200' wide crown than this.  It looks like one of many smallish new snow avalanches originating in the cliffs above overran this slope, triggering a much more destructive and deadly hard slab avalanche running on now deeply buried January snow.

  The deep, tree-littered pile of debris covered a few acres of complex terrain, piling up around trees and huge boulders and filling-in gullies and sink-holes.  It would be an ugly place to get caught in an avalanche.