Wasatch Conditions 11-12

[icelanticskier]

using the words, "different and "weird" may be a more effective way for UAC to catch the attention of readers of the advisory. those words may also refer to how the the less than average amount of snow has stacked up thus far.

rog

[JTrue]

using the words, "different and "weird" may be a more effective way for UAC to catch the attention of readers of the advisory. those words may also refer to how the the less than average amount of snow has stacked up thus far.

rog

Agreed, this season our snowpack is different or weird compared to most seasons. That's not to say that when it's not "different" or "weird" that you shouldn't follow basic protocol when traveling in the backcountry. Is the UAC saying anything to the contrary? Not that I've read...

[good4nothing]

felt like early may this afternoon. soft, supportable turns on mid elev nw led to heavy, mankier turns on w/sw. minor wet sluffing down lower.

+1

Laps N-NW facing off of reynolds from 9200 to 8400 started soft and got manky with minimal sluff down below. No real surprises in NW facing pit @ 9200ish - CT low-mid teens/Q2 on our well-known facets, ECT the same.

Also managed to blow a toe wing off my Plums at the bottom of the mill creek side on last lap:

gotta love the ski strap skin-to-ski out.

I'm leaving from murray to the bird for the UAC on-snow monday if anyone wants to carpool.

[skifishbum]

the uac has changed a lot in the social media day and age, not sure if it's all better, not sure the discussion is needed in the condition thread, but roj and a few others aint skiin and needs to partcipate often
a few obs
Sillytude finally got round to puttin in their beacon park a bit tight cause the fuckin old guys who dont really ski needed a lot

snowbirds is way better props to both though and wbr for giving people no excuse for not being competent with the beacon you choose.
off pline pass ~ 9200 32deg 165cm total ct19 q2 @45
ect no failure
rb4@145 rb6@120 free mussels bread and veggies @ sitzmark
rber drinks 4 free

usually the r&b tounge has blue ice

usually in wasatch feb you'd need a loop to to work a bit harder to find hoars

usually the chica to brah ratios reversed


not sure if any of thats weird per say
Weirds in the eye of the beholder
wowsweirdbutquailitynonsensepics&obsrule
worked hard to keep the skinner on the ridge bony large collapse and cracked a large 50' by 20' section on w aspect of ridgeline just as i thought and remarked earlier i haven't felt a collapse in a week probably a worth noting if your into obs
skied variable
this post and obs spancered by
the sisterhood of snowsliders of soul & Dr. Green Thumb grunge off products

[skifishbum]

g4n i have a set of plums i have no plans on mountin till it dumps
you're welcome to the toe till yours get replaced
oh and quite a busy noisy day in cardiff with both the powderturds and land owners operating motorized noisemakers.

[good4nothing]

g4n i have a set of plums i have no plans on mountin till it dumps
you're welcome to the toe till yours get replaced
oh and quite a busy noisy day in cardiff with both the powderturds and land owners operating motorized noisemakers.

Thats a sweet offer man, thanks a ton.
Let me see what Plum has to say about fixing/replacing the toe, but I may take you up on that if it looks like it's going to be forever.

[skifishbum]

Kessler area skiers right glmower
same old same old on the pit 165cm failin ct 22 @ 30cm a bit of sluffing but decent bonding of new snow
fkna almost like winter in the wasatch should be
johnny wasatch

smilin telechica gal pal

powderpondo wants his athelete name to be Flake
them new bugeyed gogs work w/ that

long time no white room

this post spancered by the brewmiesters @ big sky brewery and a travlin mag Lefyty who left them
arf arf powder hounds

also observerd solitudes newest avvy pooch in training Rio out powderhoundin it up.
Word is shes doin well stoked his last dog Abba was an outstanding 4 legged wbr/soli avipooch

[ill-advised strategy]

luvs ya bro
did my heart well to observe a travlin abomilble snow bro maggot passin through movin on to a possible cool new future
he calls it the blue screen of anger

thanks buddy. It does my heart well to know you're out there somewhere keeping it realer than real deal holyfield.

[skifishbum]

^^^^ when I found this place being a maggot ment somethin
So haven't heard yet whether the perhaps in this "weird" or thin snowpack the practice of yippie ky yay cornice kickin/droppin for shits and giggles or shock n awe viddies should be discouraged. I'm discouraging it but I'm just a ski bum not a proffesional avvy forcaster
any word on that discussion?
Perhaps those who seek to "pry" out avvies should join patrol at one of our "world class resorts" they do a great job of it
and i heard the red coat is an turn on to hotties.
My bro Packies in town 2 stokes and a 144 track.
Who wants to snake creek brrraaaapppp down babylon this week?

[wra]

I used one of the "yippie yie yay" for protective skiing purposes yesterday so...in celebration Valentines Day Massacre a "weird" snow pack paper.
I was in a class at the U learning about snow that winter and we learned a lot.

[skifishbum]

damn thats a sweet paper
86 was a long time ago
learned a lot that year not much on snow safety or stability
signed on the dotted line and took an oath cause my uncle said I could go to ft carson
never trust the man or look a gift trip to another continent in the mouth

Ich viel der poopenhausen mine frauline was another lesson
protect yourself at all times

[Trackhead]

South faces in LCC remained soft and fluffy for good turns at 5pm.

[skifishbum]

^^^ damn kids racked more vert than me this season why aint he smilin?
TLP ne skied well same story in the pit failin low 20's at ~30 cm on the usual
up patsey n out the drive in to the holy land
skied stellar
hooked up w/ a solo splitter kind of fun meeting new peeps made him photo slut cause thread needs some more oneplanked stoke

Still don't know why they flail their arms so much

[Trackhead]

^^^ damn kids racked more vert than me this season why aint he smilin?

Ski Mountaineering is serious business, no time to smile when you're tits deep in the gnar.

[smuggs]

great this thread is taking a turn for the better. and the cry baby thread hasnt surfaced for a few weeks now. finally winter.

thanks for the stoke posters

[smuggs]

HAHAHA i spoke too soon, sfb with the save on the cry baby thread

[tyfalk]

Sunny aspects started to warm up by 11 on mid elevation slopes. A little cracking and whumphing noticed on high south within the storm snow from the other day.

[paj]

Couple obs from yesterday and today. Yesterday Toledo was great skiing we got a couple of small soft slabs sliding on the sun crust to move in some of the steeper areas adjacent to toledo chute which were expected and manageable. S facing around flagstaff skied extremely well. Same story I got a soft slab moving skiing along the top of an E facing gully. It propogated 80' and broke into the new snow 12" deep.




Today I dug a pit at the top of one of the emma's. the first column broke as soon as I isolated the new snow on the sun crust. 2 others broke Q1 CT 4 and CT 13.

[skiski]

Today I dug a pit at the top of one of the emma's. the first column broke as soon as I isolated the new snow on the sun crust. 2 others broke Q1 CT 4 and CT 13.

What angle? Thanks.

[paj]

hard to say. It didn't take much to get things moving I'd say it was around 31-32 degrees. The pit I dug today was on a slope around 27-28 degrees. Just about every gully with tracks above in the Emmas slid on the sun crust. In areas not steep enough to slide the snow was still cracking pretty long distances.

[skifishbum]

When one of the sillytude cats that helped feed your addiction and shared tours for over a decade decides he's had enough utardedness and moves to Ely NV
makes ya sad
When he comes back into town with a vert rackin motorized noise brappper
Well what cha gonna do? Let him break in his new toy alone????
up guardsmen woop de woos ditch the sled
skins on to 10410
worst snowpack/stability I've seen in my limited travels
bout 50/50 new snow and slab on a fist of shit hoar

ne slightly below 10410 30 degrees 150cm total depth
snirt layers just above facets ~ 70cm fist hardness on facets till a 10cm 4 fing+ above ground.
stabilty tests were all over the place from column failure on cutting
to ct 20's
part of that maybe my large ortovx saw undercutting the weak ass facets above this rocky base.
going w/ an average ct mid teens mostly failing q2 just below slight melt freeze crust ~ 50-60cm. a few breaking lower 30-40 cm
both ect's failing mid teens q1 on above.
treed terrain tween 10410 and 20 skiing well sluffing on ski cuts
my thoughts on the braapmobile
things happen much faster one ski in front of the other gives you plenty off time to think and discuss your game plan, instabilties felt, the skipole ram penetrator etc
vrs. grab some throttle and bam your there. Can definately see how you could find yourself in a sketch situation or miss clues in a hurry.
On the other hand you can sure observe a lot of different aspects and potential instabilties and rack some good skiin vert.
Yeah Slacky P glad you is my bro

This post and obs spancered by
http://www.jailhousecasino.com/
tell em dibs sent ya and I know damn well bg, suse, or packies gonna treat ya right

[Brad Davis]

Wednesday February 15, 2012
Tomorrow, Thursday February 16, 2012; UDOT will restrict traffic in the mid-portion of Lt. Cottonwood Canyon between Gates B and C beginning at 11:00 a.m. for artillery fire.
Traffic will be allowed to move intermittently during this period.
***Backcountry access to areas north of the canyon road between Gates B and D will be closed from 6:00 a.m. 2/16/12 until 12:30 p.m. 2/16/12.
(Mt. Superior and areas East of Superior will stay open)***
It is anticipated that all restrictions will be lifted by 12:30 p.m. on 2/16/12.

Thanks,

Brad

[Wolfmansbro]

Emma Ridge SE aspect 35degrees. Quick pit showed a Q1-Q2 CT 22 ontop of the very present suncrust. Seemed to have more stored energy in the release then I was expecting. Little bit more weight on top might produce some interesting results. Started snowing around 7am and came in light. boot top skiing made for some fun turns. Considerable variation of snow-depth and sun crust layer between Southwest and southeast aspects.

[tyfalk]

Snow off and on today in lcc mid-canyon. Still dry snow on a variety of aspects up high.

[backcountryben]

Skied off Cardiff peak on SSW facing slope yesterday. Pit near the ridge showed ~115 cm total depth, with about 25 cm of new fist hardness, some 4-finger below that, and an assortment of crust layers and facets below that. Got the top 2 layers to go CT16 Q3, nothing worrisome on the lower facets.

The skiing was still pretty damn good with nice dry snow, although I imagine the sun today will change that...