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AltaPowderDaze
01-08-2005, 09:11 AM
here's the place for your daily observations from the backcountry, inbounds or even your backyard (trackhead) if applicable. even if you haven't been up and just have some thoughts to share about what the winds or sun will do to the snowpack. post it up here so we can all benefit.

hopefully there will be some pics as well.

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic31674.jpg

Trackhead
01-08-2005, 07:15 PM
Don't build your house in a slide path. Or atleast don't let your kids play behind it on a high danger day. Or.............ski cut it frequently, or track it out frequently to help stability.

Because one day................it will slide.

http://fritzrips.com/v-web/gallery/albums/January-05/Picture_012.jpg

zion zig zag
01-08-2005, 07:45 PM
We (snowbasin) had graupel fall on top of the 3% density snow from the other day. The snow would easily fracture under the wieght of a skier but there was no obvious bed for it to run on. Soft slabby.

AltaPowderDaze
01-08-2005, 07:51 PM
sometimes graupel can be its own bedsurface. be careful when trolling out there.

AltaPowderDaze
01-11-2005, 05:00 PM
i noticed plenty of wet activity today at the lower elevations in lcc. after a 4hr wait for the canyon to open i got 4 trams at the bird before they closed. on the drive down starting at maybird gulch i noticed that the chutes/couloirs on the north aspects had some wet debris in the runouts. most all the paths had it but the most noteworthy were the y and the y-not. they had some good stuff in the bottom. it probably started only about 1,000' vert up or 7,200'. hopefully the rain will solid things up after we get this next cold storm. things should bond well this round. with a freeze those lower elevations should consolidate just fine. i don't know about the south aspects and how the crust will react to the rain but it should be interesting. anybody have anymore info?

edit: oh yeah, i forgot to mention that there is plenty of graupel to go around out there.

seldon
01-12-2005, 12:05 AM
Not in the BC, but related. At Jackson Hole 2 days ago, we got about 24" of snow up till noon. From noon to 1pm, the wind went from about 20 knots up to 40 to 50 knots with gusts in the low 60s. The 24" of blower pow turned to a slabby wind packed slab... and I triggered two small [dr evil] mini-slabs [/dr evil] each about 10 feet wide and running for maybe 30' off lower sublette ridge. The snow showed all the classic wind slab signs, fracturing between the skis while traversing and breaking apart. After that run all lifts were closed (which just meant closing the gondy) due to avy danger - it seems that headwall had been windloaded and they were afraid of it sliding and crushing all the gapers getting of the gondy who would be completely oblivious. Not that anybody who knew more could do anything about it...

edit: I'm stupid. This isn't in the Wasatch...

AltaPowderDaze
01-21-2005, 09:10 AM
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic32358.jpg
there are still deeper instabilities out there that can be skier triggered if one hits a sweet spot. these will settle soon if they aren't messed with. most of the drainages in bcc/lcc look like war zones right now. the skiing is highly variable most places and we have not been getting a deep freeze at night. remember that if it does freeze to check the snow below. it may not have frozen overnight whereas the top 2" did. so look for the south 180 to produce point release at your feet and larger wet activity starting earlier in the day than expected. after a few good melt freeze days we should be back on track. until then, watch your slope angles and check how far you're sinking in. if it's past the ankle it's time to split. loud pow can be found at mid elevation north aspects. take some time to survey the damage nature and wpg has given us. it is quite humbling.

in spring our creeks will look like the uinta's.


this one shows lots of missing foliage. the damage goes about another 30 yards behind me and knocked down another 10 fully mature pines. talk about powerful.
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic32374.jpg

AltaPowderDaze
01-31-2005, 09:31 AM
the pow is stacking up on the mid elevation sheltereds. south aspects felt a little sensitive off the ridges yesterday due to the loading. the strong winds will allow loading a little further down than usual. should be near a foot of transport over there at the upper elevations.

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic33039.jpg

LaramieSkiBum
01-31-2005, 09:54 AM
o baby! :eek: bring some this way!

AltaPowderDaze
02-16-2005, 10:17 PM
i borrowed this post from t-tips because i felt it was informative and relavant over here. i hope you don't mind, WRA.



Interesting contrast in snow conditions, today.
We traveled from Silver through Days and Cardiff, stood on the ridge and decided to stay in Cardiff although others skied into Mineral.
Found the snow quite stable.

http://wowasatch.com/pictures/February%2016/hideaway.jpg

On the other hand over in Millcreek, a lot was getting skied, same as the northern circuit, however late in the day, a party triggered a slide on a northwest face, apparently gang skiing, not one at a time.

http://wowasatch.com/pictures/February%2016/main-face-slide.jpg

The picture isn't mine and I wasn't there, but the indication is a crust formed over the January faceted snow is causing the problems and is most widespread on the off aspects both east and west, with inablity isolating columns common.

There is very stable snow and snow not stable at all, with some caution urged and digging to determine layering and sensitivity advised, if skiing steep slopes.

AltaPowderDaze
02-20-2005, 03:31 PM
found all sorts of interesting things about today. the winds were in the singles to teens with gusts in the low 20's. they came predominantly from the sw and west but also switched to out of the nw for a brief time today. we saw one natural occur on a ne aspect that was only 6" deep and didn't run too far. the sw aspects seemed to be particularly sensitive to a skiers weight but were only breaking down to the crust layer 2-6" deep. south aspects in general had trouble bonding to the 1.5" crust that formed last thursday night.

here are some pics:


small slab on a north aspect that started by a natural cornice fall 100 yrds away.

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic34411.jpg

it sympathetically released this slope just under cardiff pass:

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic34412.jpg



some of the fresh cornices were particularly sensitive:

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic34415.jpg



the south slopes were not bonded well at all, especially the sw aspect. these released stored energy but did not go in most spots. the ones that did were minor and did not run very far.

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic34413.jpg

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic34414.jpg

most of this should settle overnight if the snow stops. if not, you might want to give it a day.

AltaPowderDaze
02-21-2005, 09:48 AM
In theory, the slabs within yesterday’s new snow should settle out fairly quickly and they will be much harder to trigger today because the new snow was so wet and dense, and it was clear overnight. What I’m more worried about is all the water weight added over the past several days continues to overload the weak layers of faceted snow, now buried about four feet deep. I would not be surprised if some eager beaver triggered a deeper, more dangerous avalanche today. These deeper avalanches will be more difficult to trigger but they will be very large and hard to survive. So today, like yesterday, is a good day to avoid slopes steeper than about 35 degrees, especially slopes with recent deposits of wind drifted snow and slopes that face north through east. Since the new snow is dense and supportable, you can have plenty of fun on gentler slopes today. Finally, you need to watch out for wet sluffs and slabs on steep sun exposed slopes when the sun makes the snow surface wet and soggy.

12345678

AltaPowderDaze
02-22-2005, 06:31 PM
well the snow seems to be settling out for now. the january facet layer did not seem to be reactive on todays tour. there was talk of larger slides in hogum and white pine that may have slid on those facets but other than that the slides were confined to the new snow, which is good.

we saw evidence of windslab failure on the north aspect where patsy/wolverine meet grizzly gulch. the slab was small and only ran a short distance while entraining loose snow. probably started by a cornice kick(s). http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic34677.jpg


this is a slide path that ran earlier in december and once again recently.
it appears to have run during the last storm and has had some new snow deposited on top of it already. you can see the stress fractures in pic #2 and the short running debris in pic #3. notice the skin track. unless you are sure of the conditions you do not want to put your uptrack here.

https://www.tetongravity.com/usergalleries/albums/userpics/normal_Silver%20Fork%202-22-05%20001.jpg

https://www.tetongravity.com/usergalleries/albums/userpics/normal_Silver%20Fork%202-22-05%20003.jpg

https://www.tetongravity.com/usergalleries/albums/userpics/normal_100_1952.jpg


once up to honeycomb we checked out a line that we skied earlier in the year. gramps was here not too long ago, before the last round of storms and noticed a 4' crown in this chute. now it has been filled back in with new snow and wind transport. you can see that it was possibly having a hard time holding its bond with the smooth bedsurface left over from the last slide. the evidence is this crack cause by the creep in the upper layers of the snowpack. creep occurs when the new snow is settling at a faster rate than the snow benieth it. as the snow packs down it also moves downhill. the old snow is still going thru this process but at a much slower rate.

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic34674.jpg

as we headed for silver fork, we found a huge cornice that has vexed gramps for some time now. after two attemps to cut it, it still vexes him.

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic34678.jpg


on the north aspects the loud pow (http://tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22896) was out in full force. the surface hoar appeard to be more advanced and larger on the northeast slopes and smaller on the north west. both pics are from the NE aspects.

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic34675.jpg

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic34676.jpg

stump832
02-22-2005, 07:27 PM
Thanks for the observations APD. I saw that same slide up on Patsy Marley yesterday. We tried to kick and cut some cornices down further up the ridge, but didn't have much luck.

Trackhead
02-22-2005, 08:16 PM
APD,

Interesting you talk of the crack in the new wind deposited snow on the old crown. The same thing is ALREADY happening again behind my house. The big 3-4 ft. crown is completely blown in and rounded over in places. And from the road, you can see a crack that runs all the way across it.

Damn avalanche production machine, some hills are.

AltaPowderDaze
02-22-2005, 08:32 PM
APD,

Interesting you talk of the crack in the new wind deposited snow on the old crown. The same thing is ALREADY happening again behind my house. The big 3-4 ft. crown is completely blown in and rounded over in places. And from the road, you can see a crack that runs all the way across it.

Damn avalanche production machine, some hills are.

yeah, i figured you'd have that slope be a repeater after a slide that big. watch out when it gets really loaded again. if i lived there i'd be doing pits weekly up by the flank and in the new snow. how slick was the bed surface? it doesn't look like all the debris left the track so you may have that going for you.

splat
02-23-2005, 09:46 PM
Well done, apd. Good to see those visual trouble signs noted. Ranks right up there with seeing it firsthand. Well, not really, but your reports are enlightening.

AltaPowderDaze
02-24-2005, 07:41 PM
there are still windloaded pockets of instability out there. yesterday we had 2 skier triggered avalanches (http://www.avalanche.org/%7Euac/advisory_w_glossary.htm) that were nasty. today was no different.

more evidence of skier triggered avalanches:

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic34832.jpg

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic34835.jpg


with the daytime heating the cornices were easy to release. slabs with sensitive weak layers will be no different:

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic34812.jpg


be on the lookout for evidence of windloading and avoid it:

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic34833.jpg


look for naturals or other recent activity and dig pits to see if the instabilities have settled out yet:

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic34834.jpg


as usual call the avy forcast center before going out. 801-364-1581 is the regular # that is updated around 7am. make sure and check the early report (801-364-1591) which often contains more detailed info that is important to travelers.

splat
02-24-2005, 10:30 PM
How'd the skier do in what appears to be a ride over the rocks in that first shot?

AltaPowderDaze
02-24-2005, 10:46 PM
How'd the skier do in what appears to be a ride over the rocks in that first shot?

broken clavicle. he actually started much higher on another, smaller slab. here's a link (http://tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25775) to another thread.

greg
02-25-2005, 02:17 PM
apd - what you are doing is really incredible. i`ld love to have someone like you over here telling me each day what to look out for AND explaining why.

well here I come with a question about this slide:

http://www.avalanche.org/~uac/Advisory_Photos/Superior1.jpg

I find it a really strange place for a fracture line. (I know it has been triggered by previous slide, but still) could somebody explain that to me. does it have to do with some altitude related weak layers?

I would have expected it to slide either a little bit further down (just befor the rollover) or a lot higher - but right in the middle? (suggestions anyone - not just apd? ;) )

AltaPowderDaze
02-25-2005, 03:24 PM
apd - what you are doing is really incredible. i`ld love to have someone like you over here telling me each day what to look out for AND explaining why.

well here I come with a question about this slide:

http://www.avalanche.org/~uac/Advisory_Photos/Superior1.jpg

I find it a really strange place for a fracture line. (I know it has been triggered by previous slide, but still) could somebody explain that to me. does it have to do with some altitude related weak layers?

I would have expected it to slide either a little bit further down (just befor the rollover) or a lot higher - but right in the middle? (suggestions anyone - not just apd? ;) )


well as you can see in the pic there are a few rocks that can make for a shollower point in the snowpack and more likely release point. i can guess that is likely crossloaded from just above where the suicide/homicide saddle is. the sometimes erratic upcanyon winds can both top load and crossload over there. that being said, i haven't seen a crown there before but i doubt it is the first time it has happened. it may not have slid above because of sloughing on the steeps that prevented slab formation but at the bottom it tends to mellow and become thinner. this likely broke on facets which grow better in a thin snowpack. so there could have been the same slab both top and bottom but the weak layer was weaker on the bottom because of the thinner snowpack. the white dragon is a strange beast that no one has completely understood yet.

does this make some sense? i'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around this one also.

greg
02-25-2005, 04:14 PM
yeah, that does make a whole lot of sense. i did get the parts of the fracture zone on lookers left as well as on lookers right. but i couldn´t figure the part in the middle. as it is a compression zone, i would have expected the upper slopes to slide too. but continuous sluff gradually stabilizing the snowpack on this steeper slope throughout the season seems to me a very good explanation. hadn´t thought about that.

the zigzag line on lookers left, sort of "shortcutting" one weak spot with the next rock is quite interesting...

AltaPowderDaze
02-25-2005, 04:20 PM
it is a compression zone

well sort of. you have to remember that just below that compressive zone is a cliff band thus making it a hanging snowfield with little to no compressive properties. it is hard to say since the stauchwall is completely gone.



the zigzag line on lookers left, sort of "shortcutting" one weak spot with the next rock is quite interesting...


yeah, it seemes to have propogated from rock to rock (thin areas) all the way across.

greg
02-25-2005, 04:30 PM
well sort of. you have to remember that just below that compressive zone is a cliff band thus making it a hanging snowfield with little to no compressive properties. it is hard to say since the stauchwall is completely gone.
thus your sluff theory would even make more sence..

"stauchwall"? don´t know english.. :( and it´s neither part of my dictionary.


yeah, it seemes to have propogated from rock to rock (thin areas) all the way across.

better to see in your pic. :)
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic34832.jpg

AltaPowderDaze
02-25-2005, 05:21 PM
"stauchwall"?

basically it is the opposite of the crown. so the very bottom of where the slab broke loose. there is a good picture of one in the red baldy avy tr in the "slide zone". or check the "anatomy of an avalanche" thread.

AltaPowderDaze
02-26-2005, 05:54 PM
nice sunny high pressure day. we summited Mt. Raymond and chose to do some stability testing on a chute just south of the summit. we dropped a 1 ton cornice that produced aprroximatly a 1' crown x 20' x 15'. it broke on faceted snow with a crust as the bedsurface. below the crust was more faceting. the slab had obvious signs of windloading on it. it may be hard to see but it is pillowy there.

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic34934.jpg

the crown:
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic34940.jpg

the cornice was cut and uncovered the older cornice still visible in this pic. the one dropped was near 1 ton but did not impact the slope that hard:

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic34933.jpg

you can see the hangfire and we didn't mess too much with it but enough to find out from a safe area what the story was.

edit to add that when tested the slab produced a Q1 shear that released when isolating the block. the bedsurface was only 1-2mm thick and had plenty of faceting (fist) above and below. the aspect of the chute fall line was due east and the shady slope that produced the slide was more ENE/NE.

AltaPowderDaze
03-02-2005, 12:17 AM
the dynamic properties of snow never cease to amaze me. surfers would kill for a wave like this cornice:

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic35230.jpg


trackhead, here you go:

west aspect, ~10,000' and 2 pits. compression tests weren't real effective since the slope wasn't that steep.


1st pit had about a Q1-1.5 in the top 1' breaking on facets. down about another foot there was a 3" pensil hard slab surrounded by facets (fist hard) and a melt/freeze (pensil-knife hard) about a foot thick. really interesting but not of real concern for our trip.
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic35234.jpg


the slab with the saw in it is a good bedsurface and the weak layer above (facets) is of concern with any sort of new heavy snow or loading. we'll have to see what rb has to say about the new snow and possible winds coming. just remember that the provo mountains have a little more active weak layers currently than we do around here.
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic35233.jpg


huge facets. this depth hoar was found about 3' down in the 2nd pit. it continued throughout my pit.
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic35232.jpg



i dropped a cornice on the east aspect with near nil vis and a few minutes after i stopped trying to see results and skied away i got this nice vis:

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic35231.jpg

Trackhead
03-02-2005, 10:49 AM
Thanks APD.

AltaPowderDaze
03-06-2005, 09:39 AM
conditions are looking good right now in most places. as i pointed out to a friend who soloed east twin yesterday, glide avys are ready to go again. he did it friday and my response was it should be good but i would not do it saturday or later. that was just a guess but they are unpredictable and out of our control. all we can do is avoid them.

well, here's what happened saturday in broads fork:
http://www.avalanche.org/~uac/Advisory_Photos/Bunds%203-5-05%20Broads%20glde.JPG next, there are still a few small windslabs were there is loose snow to blow around. either avoid them or make sure they won't pull you off a cliff, into trees or thru the rocks. lastly, this wet slide prime time so work your aspects. get out early and ski the east faces first, south faces next and wet faces last if you're out farming corn. wetslides are the easiest to avoid. if you are sinking in past your ankles then it is time to find another aspect or call it a day.

here's an example of staying out too late on the wrong aspect:
http://www.avalanche.org/~uac/Advisory_Photos/Aneka%203-5-04%20Toledo%20wet%20slide.JPG on a day as hot and sunny as saturday was, you should not be on a SE aspect at 2:30pm unless you are confident that it was not adequatly heated in the morning.

AltaPowderDaze
03-15-2005, 02:33 PM
well the deep freeze is here. things seem solid right now though sastrugi and wind effected terrain is still evident from the weekend 40-80mph winds:

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic36313.jpg

AltaPowderDaze
03-20-2005, 06:42 PM
broke trail thru about 2' of fresh and transport. spent the afternoon (1:30-4pm) just looking around cardiff pass. coming up pole line i found the east aspects loaded and very sensitive from the upcanyon winds. they were cracking about a foot deep or better. at the pass you could see the north aspects were loaded but the winds had shifted and things began to load on the south aspect. the visibility, which was not good to begin with, became worse. i headed over to the superior ridge from the weather station and remotely triggered a small 4-6" soft slab from the ridge. http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic36696.jpg


i went a little further and dropped a little fresh 25lb cornice that propogated over to a nearby obviously loaded chute. it did not appear to have broken into any old snow at the deepest part (~1') of the crown. in the pic you can see it wrapped around the next ridge into some cliffs. it may have pulled out more once it reached the chutes apron but vis was horrible and the trasport blowing onto the south aspects was picking up. http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic36697.jpg

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic36698.jpg

anything without a north facing cornice was starting to develop a south facing one. winds didn't seem to get above ~30mph.

to be honest, it was easier going up than going down. steep slopes were needed for downhill travel but i wasn't about to head down cardiff ridge with pillows above me.

powstash
03-21-2005, 06:20 PM
any obs from today? Thinking about Cardiff or Patsy Marley tomorrow.

AltaPowderDaze
03-21-2005, 06:34 PM
my only observation was that some people don't tip very well.

i worked all day but i wouldn't have been too excited to get out and ski anything steep. winds changed a bit and lots of new snow is on the ground. i'll take a look at the snotells tonight and decide if it's going to be an inbounds day or not for tuesday.

gramps
03-22-2005, 11:14 PM
I was out in Rocky point/Patsy Marley area today. We heard and felt settling in a rocky area on a NE aspect. I also made a block/small slab move on an East aspect, it sheared clean about a foot deep on a small rollover, but it wasn't steep enough for it to travel very far. Later, on a Southerly aspect, a small, 6 - 8" deep wind compressed slab pulled out, but again the terrain wasn't steep enough for it to move very far. There was also heavy wind loading on the N through E aspects off the upper ridgeline today.

AltaPowderDaze
03-22-2005, 11:42 PM
yeah, i spoke with an exum guide about some of this today. he said that he felt it was sketch now and would be hitting the resorts after this next storm rolls thru. 3' on top of a layer of facets that is already active is going to be nuts. 5 taps from the wrist is all that it is taking on the NNW aspects in silver. doesn't bode well for this new snow staying put.

i am not all that happy about skiing steep slopes right now before the next storm. it can be done in certain places but the resorts are so damn good right now that it isn't even a choice for me.

powstash
03-23-2005, 02:39 PM
These photos are from 8100' on a north facing ridgeline. I was just walking the ridge on a little exploration this morning and this guy pulled out, about 4" from my downhill ski. 34-38 degrees, 20" crown and 30' wide. It pulled down to the facets from the last dry spell and there was a little dirt layer indicating the wind from the start of the first storm last week. I'd keep clear of northerly aspects and use caution on ridgelines - like the avie report says today.

looking east along the ridge I was traveling on
http://www.feedthehabit.com/pics/ski/kentours/parleys/parleys_slab3.jpg

looking west - notice parley's canyon down there
http://www.feedthehabit.com/pics/ski/kentours/parleys/parleys_slab4.jpg

It didn't run far - wouldn't bury you but it'd knock you down and perhaps into a tree or two

http://www.feedthehabit.com/pics/ski/kentours/parleys/parleys_slab_debris1.jpg

debris from another angle
http://www.feedthehabit.com/pics/ski/kentours/parleys/parleys_slab_debris2.jpg

slope angle - 34 degrees
http://www.feedthehabit.com/pics/ski/kentours/parleys/parleys_slopemeter.jpg

Be safe out there.

AltaPowderDaze
03-27-2005, 08:04 PM
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic37151.jpg

i dug a 9.5' deep pit on a north facing 35* slope at 9,500'. shovel shears produced q2's on a couple slight density inversions and a gaupel layer. each were about 1' apart. R4's and 5's on the same weakly bonded layers.

facets 5.5' down:
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic37149.jpg

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic37150.jpg

5 taps from the shoulder got the facets to fail. i believe this is the same layer that was active just before our large storm cycle. R-7 -- no failure. i had some trouble isolating the back of the block to that depth so that would have been an issue here. i would guess that it would fail as an R6 had i been able to completely isolate it.

the 3" facet layer shown was what i like to call 2 finger hard or just a little harder than both 4F & fist hard. the 5" below it was also faceted but it was 1F hard. and did not fail in the compression test.


a natural that ran sometime during or toward the end of the last storm. i think this was the maybird/hogum ridge but i can't remember. i took a pic and couldn't remember which one it was for sure. this is a north to northeast aspect:

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic37152.jpg

edit: it was the maybird/hogum ridge

AltaPowderDaze
03-31-2005, 06:39 PM
the warming has played a factor in these two slides:

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic37549.jpg

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic37550.jpg

they appear to be 1-3' deep on average and were natural slides of a SE aspect helped on their way by the sunny sky. the SE slopes were crossloaded by upcanyon winds during the storm.


there are unstable slopes out there. be careful over the weekend. we are sure to see more slides tomorrow but i hope no one is there for them to pose a threat to.

AltaPowderDaze
04-10-2005, 06:39 PM
i guess you could call these trees flagged. we were on a ridge when this pic was taken. a massive slide took out areas that would otherwise never see mcuh action.
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic38219.jpg


this tree is flagged to 45' high. the highest branch i observed broken was on a tree further down hill. the branch was 65' high.
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic38218.jpg




just a few snowpack obs:
on E,S and W slopes there is atleast a one inch crust formed that is supportable at upper elevations. mid elevations are hit or miss and lower elevation is just heavy, melted and rained on snow. the E aspects at mid elev had a 2" thick crust that was destroyed by faceting with a coupel feet of wet snow beneith. S aspects had a supportable crust with a couple feet of wet below. upper elev N aspects had 4" fresh with a paper thin crust that wasn't noticable while skiing, just in the pit. no wet snow was observed at high elevation on the north slopes. earlier in the day winds blew in the 20-30mph range and out of the NE loading SW slopes in lcc.

Trackhead
04-11-2005, 07:54 AM
That is some impressive flagging!!!!!!!

Elitist
04-16-2005, 12:35 AM
http://biglines.com/photos/blpic39286.jpg
^ A Wellsville cornice looms above Cache Valley and Hyrum Reservoir, The Bear River Range is in the distance.

http://biglines.com/photos/blpic39287.jpg
^ Early Morning Corn

powderwhore
04-16-2005, 06:07 PM
http://xpupload.hpphoto.com/ses219665467309.jpg



Wow thats impressive, BUT I CAN"T SEE SHIT!!!

AltaPowderDaze
04-20-2005, 06:41 PM
plenty of good snow to be had on the shady aspects. the old snow is still quite warm on the sunny aspects covered with ~12" of new, which lead to some push-alanches. on the upper elev ridges the pillows were up to 4' deep in some spots and were propogating fractures with low energy. @30* they would fracture but it took 35*+ to get them to move. most of what i found was confined to between 1 and 2 feet but easy to spot. they were layered but all ran on the old snow interface at what looked like a density inversion. lots of old slab and slough activity was noticed on all aspects. N had some slabs, E had minor sloughing in most spots and some far running skier triggered wet sloughs.

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic39067.jpg

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic39068.jpg

in the top left center of this pic you can spot the debris from the first pic:
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic39069.jpg

there was about 2' of light on fluffy on the shady slopes. it sloughed easily but ran slowly in most places. visibility went away right about 3:15 and it began to snow. the winds became gusty in the moderate range out of the SSW. it looked like another 1" of snow may have been added at the end of the day before it stopped snowing around 5:15. the snow was intermittent so it may have started again.

skifishbum
04-20-2005, 07:23 PM
Today at Brighton Lots of instabilities. Poor bonding of new snow. Then sun came out and heated things up. Wanted to bag Millicent Peak,but it wasn't going to happen under these conditions. A small release here.

AltaPowderDaze
04-24-2005, 10:26 AM
there was a slick but textured suncrust about a foot down that was still damp but not really lubed by 8:30 (SE). below that there were some mf layers that were refrozen but the 1st mf layer was still producing results on faceting, which was well capped by the suncrust. a day old natural slab avy was observed at around 8k on an E aspect. it was ~1' x 100' and ran into a gully.

heavy rain was observed up to about 9,500 yesterday. maybe it can help lock up some of the snowpack around here.

a runneled slope from the slide activity on 4-22:
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic39203.jpg

AltaPowderDaze
04-26-2005, 03:39 PM
East and Southeast slopes seem to be active lately. i haven't had a chance to look at any of the crown profiles yet but i assume that in the first pic the rain/sun or a combination did a number on a deep suncrust. in the second pic it seems that the crust ~8-10" down hasn't had a chance to furrow yet and is impeding the melt water from finding its way to the earth. coming out of a lower sunny drainage a few days back we noticed a 1' crown x 100' wide east slope that slid wet either before we got there or the day before. so in short, the east aspects have been busy.

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic39478.jpg

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic39479.jpg

AltaPowderDaze
05-10-2005, 05:16 PM
wet sloughs were the concern for the day. 8-12" fresh high density snow sitting on a partially suportable rain crust in most areas. under the unfrozen crust was 1-2 more feet of soft unfrozen mank. a half hour of sun around 11am did the new snow in and allowed it to move on slopes over 35*. all it took was for a skier to remove a little tensile strength from steep slope and it was point release city. it did take a while to run its track but most were not dangerous to skiers except for exposure concerns. this one was big enough to possibly bury a skier:

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic40193.jpg

the rest entrained quite a bit of snow and would be problematic to be tangled in but would pose little danger to those that either stayed in front of or above the moving snow. slope cuts told the tale but left an almost supportable bedsurface to ski down. clearing your skis from the snow was the best way to manage.

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic40191.jpg


rollovers were sure places to do damage if you wanted to get a pushalanche going.
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic40192.jpg


slope angles and time of day were the most effective way to minimise your impact on the new snow. a drop in temps would be welcomed before our next round of storms.

skifishbum
05-11-2005, 05:40 AM
Yesterday it seemed that the heavy density snow at lower elevation was bonding better than above 10k. The steeper slopes in Wolverine were fracturing w/ ski cuts quite easily and running full track. I was a little slow on the shutter of this pic, but you can see the wide fracture and the sluff pouring over the 1st steep rollover from the top of Mt. Wolverine. Will be interesting to see how the addition of new snow late yesterday and last night affects conditions today.
Damn I miss the UAC and NOA Cottonwoods forcast. Thanks for your avvy posts APD
.http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y195/skifishbum/ski078.jpg

AltaPowderDaze
05-11-2005, 11:03 PM
point releases like yesterday's were less common but were still around. by the time we got there most had run but it wasn't too much effort to move a good sized slough if the terrain was steep enough. hopefully tonights colder temps can curtail some of the action and lend us a few more faceshots in the morning.

just remember that we have over 2" of water weight in 48hrs on not so frozen old snow.

wra
05-12-2005, 10:06 AM
Another view of may 11. (http://wowasatch.com/Journal/May/may%2011.htm)

AltaPowderDaze
05-12-2005, 10:35 AM
Another view of may 11. (http://wowasatch.com/Journal/May/may%2011.htm)


Appears another day of this, before clearing. Temperatures rising for the weekend. Wear your helmut, when that happens.
It will certainly be interesting.



i have the feeling that this weekend will be trekking on the mellower slopes/ridges with plenty of spring wax for the skins. i haven't been out yet today but i'm guessing that the new snow isn't bonded all that much better to the deformed crust layer. it kinda feels like the new layer is just going to peel off durning the first 10* high temp spike or a quick hit from the sun. oh well, i had my fun with that layer of snow. i'd hate to have to ski that bedsurface though.

i guess were out of luck on a deep freeze until next season.

this spring is running so late that i won't get a trip home until mid summer.

Buzzworthy
05-12-2005, 12:38 PM
i have the feeling that this weekend will be trekking on the mellower slopes/ridges with plenty of spring wax for the skins.

Enlighten the jong please. Wax the skins? I know mine got real wet at Basin last time up for a short jaunt, slushy in places. How will the wax help and in what situations?

Buzz

AltaPowderDaze
05-12-2005, 12:52 PM
Enlighten the jong please. Wax the skins? I know mine got real wet at Basin last time up for a short jaunt, slushy in places. How will the wax help and in what situations?

Buzz

when new snow gets hit by the sun it will glop up under foot on your skins. it sucks to lift two 30lb skis every step.

skifishbum
05-12-2005, 01:24 PM
I have used BD's glop stop w/ mixed results. Seems better if applied before onto dry skins. A fat pow ski w/ heavy snow on top and the skins will needlessly work you hard.
Here a pic of suspect crap layer from yesterday. Tried to take a pic through mag loupe of grains but failed. Temp diff was aprox 2 degrees from new snow to beneath this layer.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y195/skifishbum/ec013.jpg

Buzzworthy
05-12-2005, 03:11 PM
when new snow gets hit by the sun it will glop up under foot on your skins. it sucks to lift two 30lb skis every step.

So just wax underfoot and a bit extra or the whole skin? Should I do this now and how do you apply it to the skins? When and when not, how to put wax on and how to get wax off are my questions. Do I ever need to get the was off once I apply it?

Sorry, I just got my skins a bit ago. Never really knew much, still don't, but they sure do help for uphill. :biggrin:

AltaPowderDaze
05-12-2005, 09:25 PM
buzz,

i use the same blocks that i hot wax my ski bases with. just rub it with the grain like you're mowing the lawn. you cando the whole skin but i usually go just a bit past toe and heel. the wax comes off as you climb so you will need to reapply on long tours.

---remember to go tip to tail, not the reverse. just pretend you are brushing your dog.

Buzzworthy
05-13-2005, 01:37 PM
buzz,

i use the same blocks that i hot wax my ski bases with. just rub it with the grain like you're mowing the lawn. you cando the whole skin but i usually go just a bit past toe and heel. the wax comes off as you climb so you will need to reapply on long tours.

---remember to go tip to tail, not the reverse. just pretend you are brushing your dog.

Grassy Ass!!

Dog brushing, ha, you must be joking! Zanik dont need no brushing! :D

https://www.tetongravity.com/usergalleries/albums/userpics/Zanik.JPG

zion zig zag
05-21-2005, 12:37 PM
So whats been going on out there lately? I'm planning on bagging a peak next week with an early start, plan on skiing by about 9am. With no freeze at night and the rapid warming is anyone seeing big glides? I'm thinking that if it will at least drop to about 40 at night surface slides should'nt be a problem.

AltaPowderDaze
05-21-2005, 03:15 PM
i don't really know. i've been giving the snowpack some time to go iso since the last storm. i think right now the aspect you ski on is the more imoprtant part of your decision. i'm still seeing troubling impedence layers on north aspects so i'm avoid those right now. after a another week or so of this hot weather we should see those layers either produce slides or develop channels for the melt water to escape.

if you let me know where, what aspect/elevation you are looking to hit i can ask around. maybe someone has been there or has some idea of the local conditions.

zion zig zag
05-21-2005, 04:21 PM
Ben Lomond/Willard peak, northeast facing, elev. between 9800 and 7500 ft.

Ben Lomond has a huge northeast face, about 1000 vertical feet of wide open 38-45 degree face.

wra
05-22-2005, 07:41 AM
I was on Gobblers yesterday.
The snow line was between 7'100 and 8'000 feet.
Snow in that area, which didn't get the snow amounts from the may storms was settled into summer snow. It was supportable and skiable into early afternoon on the northwest facing.
There have been a number of large avalanches, including glide slides in Big Cottonwood with crowns noted in Mineral Fork and Mill B South.

Broads
http://wowasatch.com/pictures/May%2021/broads.jpg

I heard of a slide on Baldy above Alta yesterday, running at about 10 am on the north facing.

AltaPowderDaze
05-25-2005, 07:17 PM
From the UAC:

For Immediate Release Contact: Bruce Tremper – Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center

Date: 5-24-2005 801-231-4744

or

Craig Gordon 801-231-2170



wet Avalanche danger EXPECTED through the weekend



Very warm daytime temperatures combined with above-freezing nights will create wet slab avalanches throughout the mountains of Utah, especially on high elevation north through east-facing slopes. These conditions should persist through the holiday weekend.



Backcountry travelers should stay off of, and out from underneath, snow-covered slopes steeper than about 35 degrees, especially in the heat of the afternoon. Also, this is not the time to have a picnic under steep snow covered slopes. Finally, remember that the ski areas are not open and they are no longer doing any avalanche control.


these may be recent since the bedsurface hasn't been dusted yet.


AF Twins:
http://65.254.90.69/images/website%20images/Grizzly-Twin%20Lakes%20Pass%205-25-05%20017.jpg

Dresden Face:
http://65.254.90.69/images/website%20images/Grizzly-Twin%20Lakes%20Pass%205-25-05%20024.jpg