Quick report
- Red Flags
- Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>The poor snowpack structure will be an issue with the forecasted upcoming storm.</p>
Travel today was Alta -> Cardiff Fork -> Spruces -> Days Fork -> Alta. We were able to look at all aspects between 7,500'-10,500'
The avalanche danger is currently Low, but with such weak snow at the surface, the avalanche danger will quickly rise with the upcoming weekend storm. We saw widespread weak, faceted snow in the top 10-20 cms of the snowpack on northerly and east-facing slopes, with some near-surface facets on upper elevation southeast aspects. On slopes that had previously avalanched (which includes much of Days Fork), the snowpack was shallow (45-60 cms) thick and all facets.
What was especially interesting is we came across a fresh avalanche in Two Dogs on a slope that had previously avalanched in early January. This was apparently a remotely-triggered slide as we saw ski tracks above the crown. This was s small avalanche (30-45 cms/12-18" deep) and at most 15' wide, but it is a sign that it will not take much of a new load for avalanches on slopes that have previously avalanched.
Photos of Two Dogs avalanche and video discussion of current snow surface and the problems we can expect with the upcoming storm.
Snowpack
Quite a mixed bag of snow surfaces, with crusts on southerly slopes and old wind slabs on some upper-elevation northerly slopes, with widespread faceted snow on most north through east-fcing surfaces.