Quick report
- Aspect
- Southwest
- Red Flags
- Heavy Snowfall, Wind Loading, Rapid Warming
- Elevation
- 2896 m
- Slope Angle
- 17°
I decided to dig a pit on a South facing aspect to see new snow and ice crust interface. As far as i could tell the new snow was settling quickly (judging by hand hardness) as seen by the pic below. Below the new snow is a meaty ice crust that even proved difficult to cut with a snow saw. As seen with the pic below, there is a few ice crust layers followed by dense snow eventually bottoming out in a layer of facets from ground level to about 35cm.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>Newly formed wind slabs on top of old snow and/or ice crust could prove to be active at higher elevations.</p> <p>As the Sun shines bright and high on southerly slopes watch out for newly formed wind slabs to become damp, heavy and possibly give way to an avalanche if disrupted. </p>
This storm was/is a great reset for the western Uintahs. Most areas we traveled (above 9700') we enjoyed at least 18" of fresh powder on top of a solid base. However, be careful at lower elevations. The new snow is inviting but the old cooked snow layer is very solid and un forgiving. You can get bucked around easily hitting old hidden tracks. Stay patient and seek out higher elevations with deeper snow.