Quick report
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Not many red flags but there was evidence of a couple storm slabs that look like they occurred near the end of the latest snow event, perhaps a couple days ago (see photos below). </p>
The skiing was so good, plus I'm not getting paid to do this after retirement, so I did not take the time to dig a snowpit but based on many pole probes, the snowpack seemed to be the same well-bridged slab over the old layer of faceted snow near the ground that I have been finding these past few days in other areas. Most of the snow seemed pretty stable based on the slopes that people were skiing and not triggering avalanches. I have no idea what is going on in upper elevation, wind damaged slopes because I did not visit them.
One storm slab off of northwest-facing, Red Baldy, about 10,600', 1' x 100'. Another storm slab off of east facing slope low on the Spire about 9,200', NE facing, 1' x 80'. Both probably occurred late in the last round of snow and composed of just new snow.
Snowpack
Fabulous powder still hanging in there on most slopes but sun crusted on south facing. As tracked up the rest of the Wasatch has become, it's amazing that backcountry skiers and boarders have not tracked up White Pine until today. It looks like the helicopter took a few runs in White Pine yesterday but they left most of it for everyone else. Today, however, lots of backcountry skiers completely tracked up the lower to mid section of Tri Chutes, but curiously enough, not too many tracks in Columbine (Birthday Chutes) and just a few tracks off the various runs off the Spire. One party ascended a storm slab avalanche bed surface on Red Baldy and skied next to the flank. Wind damaged above about 10,500'.