Quick report
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>See below</p>
Mostly Low danger in our terrain. Possible someone could trigger a shallow wind drift in very isolated terrain or shallow loose dry. Expect avalanche danger to be in lock-step with either storms or sun/warming in the next several days.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>If, as they say, that depth hoar was invented in the San Juans of southern Colorado, then it must be true that the great cornices of the world are forged along the Ogden Skyline.</p> <p>SB patroller Ken Snoy's <a href="https://utahavalanchecenter.org/avalanche/53818">observation</a> of cornice fall on Tuesday the 31st in the upper Middle Bowl Cirque followed by another large release in the Sisters/Strawberry area likely yesterday/Wednesday April 1. (1st two pics). These entrained some snow with them, mostly loose dry and perhaps a shallow wind slab; each leaving a size 1 or 2 debris pile. These cornices face generally east along the Snowbasin resort/Ogden Skyline. </p> <p> Two snowshoers were ahead of us to gain the Strawberry ridgeline and we chose to look at the older debris pile from<em> adjacent</em> terrain. Despite the light snowfall and flat light, one of my partners pointed to the huge chunks of snow and loose snow debris <em><strong>now cascading</strong></em> down the slope...and seeing dark objects in with the debris (snow-shoers?), we made a hasty beacon search and looked through the shallow debris for what, thankfully, was nothing. Unknown trigger; perhaps the snowshoe party; perhaps just enough wind. Three good size cornice falls in three days along the Ogden Skyline. </p> <p></p> <p>Looked for the buried facets, SH, and crust combination that was the culprit in last Friday's (March 27th) close call on No Name; and that observer Derek Debruin also <a href="https://utahavalanchecenter.org/observation/53785">found </a>a few days later on the 30th. Neither we on the 27th nor Derek - with much testing and prodding - would elicit much of a response from this layering. Today I could not find any layering of great interest and could not even find the surface hoar. </p> <p> </p>
Dry to damp couple inches on a supportable crust; easy travel; excellent riding on smooth underlying surfaces.