Quick report
- Red Flags
- Wind Loading, Collapsing, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Our party expericance one localized collapse in our travels, it was on a E facing slope about 35 degrees in steepness and had a buried sun crust with facets underneath. Nothing like a week ago but worth taking note of.</p>
It wasn't for the faint of heart getting back into American Fork canyon. Kowboy trying to keep his boots dry...
This was the north facing slope we decided to ski after thorough assessment. We were able to avoid wind slabs on steep starting zones to enter the slope. Not far down, the wind slabs were not present, just loose snow on the surface with a thin weakening slab underneath. Trouble areas would be steep lee slopes with recent wind deposits.
The snow pack in the hole was 100 cm deep on a north facing aspect at 9600 ft.
The four finger slab is being destroyed by the prolonged temperature gradients that continue their non-stop onslaught of the Wasatch snow pack. As it continues to be high pressure over Utah we are continually getting weaker and weaker snow pack in the northerly facing terrain.
Pretty finish to a great day... Soft snow can still be found, although you might have to get creative.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>Winds blew pretty hard in the overnight hours yesterday and created some fresh drifts up high that we found to be fairly stubborn. With our current poor snow pack structure it seems like any new load even from wind should be suspect. I would guess with a little time these wind slabs will become less and less sensitive to the weight of a rider. </p> <p>The persistent slabs seems to be dormant in most terrain right now, at least for a backcountry traveler. We found ourselves pushing the slope angels today and got into some north facing slopes in the 36-38 degree range. Disclaimer - I still would feel uncomfortable in big open terrain that is unsupported, convex or perhaps been freshly loaded by the wind. We started out first on a gentle slope to assess the snow pack & terrain before committing to anything steep. After some thorough assessment, we all felt good with taking a look at the steeper slope. We did choose to avoid the next saddle up because the slope had a bit more wind slab and was just slightly steeper with more consequence. </p> <p>The slabs seems to be relaxed enough and underlying facets have adjusted to the last load in the sheltered north facing terrain now. The terrain was shallow 70-100 cm and you could see the ground features on the slope. </p>
It seems like you could find every type of snow there is, wind slabs up high on the ridges, sun crust on the solar asp, settled powder in the shade, shallow places where its faceted snow to the ground - sandbox. Low angle sheltered shady slopes were quite good.