Snowpack

Observation: Alexander Basin

T DiegelSalt Lake
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Quick report

Red Flags
Wind Loading, Cracking
Red Flags Comment
<p>while there wasn't a ton of snow to transport, the wind was creating slabs. </p>

Snowpack

Instability Comment
<p>at the beginning/middle of the day the wind hadn't seemed to have affected the snow, but mid-afternoon it picked up to the point where the wind was blowing/swirling even down into the drainages off the ridges, so we had some slab development and subsequent 8" cracking on test slopes; enough so that we then avoided a bigger, "real" slope. </p> <p> </p> <p>If the wind continues to crank overnight/tomorrow this could become real. </p> <p>In the back of my mind I wondered if a smaller windslab slide could have the power to release the well-advertised persistent weak layer? Theoretically in high north thin areas there are potential bullseye sweet spots, and a broader windslab could/would ripple across all the trigger points, so a biggie stepdown might be a result? That would be bad. </p>

Slabbing up with wind