Quick report
- Red Flags
- Recent Avalanches, Heavy Snowfall, Wind Loading, Poor Snowpack Structure
Travel was from Alta summer road -> Griz -> Patsy Marley -> Mt Wolverine -> Tuscarora -> Catherine's. Wanted to look at the state of coverage before the arrival of the front. Any South-ish aspect is now adorned with a 1 cm pencil hard but unsupportable sun crust. Aspects other than high northerlies have a mix of wind skin and zipper rime crusts, all still skiable. Some shletered and uncrusted snow remains in the trees. The south facing aspects of the microwave and tuscarora were clearly heavily solar yesterday and the limited snowpack (HS ~ 20-30cm) is frozen solid and challenging travel. The wolverine chutes are fairly cachectic (photo 2), though starting to build cornices. Heaven's gate area looks pregnant with wind-drifted snow and ready for an accident.
The front arrived with candor (Photo 1, ominous and coming up-canyon), and also with some thunder-snow.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>Front arrived around 11:20 to upper LCC with high PI. Arrived with grauppel on the leading edge of the front which is falling atop crusts on many aspects. Depending on total accumulation, storm slab may be a front and center concern for late today/tomorrow morning.</p> <p>Ahead of the front winds were gusting 30-40 mph on ridgetops and as forecast by Drew this morning, there remained snow available for transport. Wind drifting was loading the start zones of slopes NE-E-SE along the route that I traveled. </p>