Quick report
- Red Flags
- Wind Loading
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>The wind was still cranking across the E/W ridges and the snow was stripped there. There may be just enough snow to transport over from the north to the south sides to create some windslabs on the south sides; probably not enough to create a big slide but certainly enough to carry a person. </p> <p>Also, the new snow didn't bond that well on the north sides either; we did get a pretty fast/long running sluff on a steeper, due-north facing line, probably due to the dense snow on top of the graupel. As always, a graupel event makes me particularly attentive to cliff band bases where it pools. </p>
Wednesday morn could see some potential windslab action if the winds continue to blow a bit overnight; I'd be wary of steep southerly lines up high. Then if it clears tomorrow afternoon, the dastardly sun may create even more opps for wet slides that could start small and eventually become healthy entrainers (over the weekend - outside the Wasatch - I saw a ski-length wet pushalanche go from a nothin' to a thousand-foot, tree-shaking, gouging slide) .
We realized today the hard way that the steeper S. facing lines were getting melted out, and sharks now lurk just below the surface of the new snow where it pitches over a bit.
Snowpack
A bit of a complex blend, fortunately within the new snow and not underneath. Seemed like the beginning of the storm had sugary graupel that seemed to fill in all the old tracks and buffed things out, with more actual snow on top of that. If I knew how to surf, I'd call it "surfy" skiing, for whatever that's worth to an avalanche center. If there was more load coming I'd be worried; a sugary layer on top of a pretty healthy crust on most aspects, which would make for a slick layer. But as it is, with no weather forecasted for a bit it should be well behaved.