Quick report
- Red Flags
- Cracking, Collapsing
The day started off colder than anticipated, and stayed sunny, with little to no wind. The trees were candy-coated with ice (photos below). Throughout the day we noticed wind affected snow in upper elevation. There was evidence of some natural activity but it was small and isolated. Looking at the massive avalanche debris piles across the road from Friday's avalanche cycle was incredible.
We started from White Pine trailhead and skinned to Red Pine. When breaking trail, we noticed collapsing on an icy layer under the surface snow.
We dug a pit later in the day around 1 PM on a NE slope at 10,100'. The storm cycle this week added 2 feet of dense, cement-like snow to the pack and the coverage is incredible. Skiing was much better than expected! Most of the icy crust was quite supportable and the smooth surface snow made for fast skiing. Overall, an absolutely beautiful day to be out in the Wasatch.
Our snowpit profile from Maybird is below.
photo 1: Iced-up branches and cones
photo 2: Ice crust found beneath the surface snow.
photo 3: Wind affected snow in Maybird Gulch.
photo 4: Looking at the Pfeifferhorn from upper Maybird Gulch. A gorgeous day!