Quick report
- Aspect
- Northeast
- Red Flags
- Heavy Snowfall, Wind Loading, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Elevation
- 2713 m
- Slope Angle
- 23°
Note in snow profile the preserved surface hoar 23cm below the surface. This was easily identifiable with a shovel tilt test. You did not need to even tap the shovel for the layer to fail. I would expect that wind destroyed the surface hoar in any exposed terrain, but in sheltered terrain new snow avalanches failing on this layer could be a concern.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>The strong winds were building wind slabs on exposed terrain. If the winds continue overnight, I would be concerned about wind slab avalanche danger on open slopes.</p> <p>My snow pit had full-depth compression and extended column test results on 21 taps. This confirms that it would likely just take finding the perfect trigger spot to have a very large avalanche.</p>
Cold Utah powder was being served up today. At lower elevations, you could feel some of the New Years Day Rain Crust below the new snow.