Quick report
- Red Flags
- Rapid Warming
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>No red flags to speak of except for prolonged sun melting on all the sun exposed slopes. Straight south facing slopes at all altitudes are mushy, sinking in to your ankles while traveling on skis. I have turned back from crossing a couple of 30 degree plus, mushy slopes, and gone around them instead. I haven't dug any snow pits because every time I shove my pole down to the hilt into the snowpack, the basal faceted weak layer is buried very deep, and I'm feeling very lazy. But since every single slope I can see is full of tracks, that's probably a good indicator that the deep, faceted layers are dormant for now. Moderate for wet slides on steep, sun exposed slopes that are getting very soggy. The forecast colder temperatures with just a skiff or 3 inches of new snow will probably make everything go to low, or thereabouts. </p>
Snowpack
We've been cabin sitting in upper Big Cottonwood Canyon for the past few days and skiing in the local neighborhood. We should sure use a new paint job on the extremely variable and challenging snow surface conditions. I believe that my own personal, 35-year record has been broken insofar as the mind-numbing multitude of tracks everywhere. It's definitely been loved to death. We've been seeking out all my usual secret stashes of powder snow around here but been hurled back by tracks absolutely everywhere. As an example, there's almost moguls throughout the thick evergreen trees on the northwest side of Peak 10,420, which is a place you can almost always find plenty of ribbons of soft snow if you don't mind running slalom through the trees. And then there's the super-secret stashes, gone, all tracked out. The stuff of nightmares. Skiers, snowmobilers, snowboarders, snowshoers, lovin' it to oblivion. And I see thick tracks everywhere I look. bah, humbug, but a bit of new snow and all can be forgotten. Right now, the snow is extremely variable, soft settled--did I mention tracked-up--dry snow that skis like powder on the straight north facing or in the shade of large evergreen trees. Icy snow bombs under each evergreen tree. Breakable sun crust on every single sun exposed slopes. I was hoping for corn this morning but it was punchy, breakable crust with mush underneath. I watched four snowboarders do high speed turns down off south facing, Pinecone Ridge and two punched through and tomahawked for a good distance. Perhaps the forecast colder temperatures will make it supportable but it doesn't quite seem thick enough. The forecast colder temps and a little bit of new snow could make it all tolerable again.