Quick report
- Red Flags
- Recent Avalanches
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Widespread dry sluffs observed on all aspects, in mid and upper Little Cottonwood Canyon. Most were from yesterday, and most looked to be human triggered. Saw several small sluffs triggered today - surface snow was still reactive on steep slopes.</p>
New dry sluffs I observed today were not large enough to bury a person, but large enough to knock you off balance or catch and carry in continuously steep terrain. Could get a person on foot/skis/etc in trouble in continuously steep or cliffy terrain. Though in the weather forecast, clearing skies weren't occurring in LCC , so no heating of the snow observed.
Multiple quick hand pits, and not finding any crusts in the upper snow pack, just right side up snow on a denser layer. Perhaps I wasn't on steep enough slopes.
Tuesday: plenty of snow available for transport once the wind starts to blow - forecasted for later tonight through tomorrow - and this will rapidly created wind slabs sitting on low density snow.
Below - new small sluffs
Snowpack
Perhaps a trace overnight, on top of a foot or so of light, right side up powder. No sign of sun damage from Sunday, just cold powder. Sun affect probably varied by drainage and elevation Sunday. Planned for a short day due to potential sun and wet sluffs, so off the snow by noon. But the increasing afternoon clouds may have preserved the southerly facing powder for another day in many locations.
Up track was slick, partially due to a dusting of clean stellars making it slippery.