Wasatch 21/22 - We're All Here 'Cause We're Not All There!

[Dantheman]

That Backside slide is pretty insane.

Snowbird was still holding up so well today. Didn't feel crowded at all and even the bumps were still soft. Was having a grand time until a guy ran into my son, which broke his pole and caused a sprained ankle in the ensuing crash.

[telefreewasatch]

Actually that slope did have old snow on it, but its south facing so doesn't really matter.

S facing and old snow are incongruous this year.
Old snow is October snow that made it through November.
From the track to the R there might be a little old snow.
From the track to the L no old snow.
Good call today.
Lotta bad calls with folks not waiting long enough on that face the past buncha years.
Competition and all.
Anyone got any late Nov. photos?
Gotta Natty on the line, here.
Drink of yer choice Mar, my house either way.
Gotta learn how to surf...

[Dshack89]

This was taken Dec 4

Edit: More photos here https://photos.google.com/share/AF1Q...JrbWFWVHBldy1R

[telefreewasatch]

Something I talked about a bit last year that seemed appropriate to revisit is the fact that when a slope runs big, it is often a safe place to visit after the mayhem smoothes out with new snow.
Like God's Lawnmower last year.
If the track and runout are not threatened by adjacent paths during periods of elevated hazard.
And one is not remotely triggering headwalls from the flats of a drainage.

The crown of an avalanche is the snow remaining above the crown face, or fracture line.
What most folks call "hangfire".
Hangfire is a military munitions malfunction resulting in a delayed cannon fire.

Gonna talk about the crown of an avalanche.
And that 90 some percent of the time after a large event and we are trying to make pieces of the crown avalanche, we are unable to.
Even when we actively hunt the upper slopes after an event.
Kinda remarkable.
When slopes crack, settle, but don't run?
90 some percent of the time we are unable to persuade them, even with explosives.
When a slope avalanches or cracks/settles, it is said to have relieved itself.

My points are that if a monster slide doesn't pull out it's headwaters with it, the weight of a skier is not likely to do what it could not.

And that collapsing/cracking if a slope does not run are actually signs of stability.
Initially and tenfold the next day...
It's easy to see crown faces and debris under new snow, but much harder to see signs of collapsing/cracking underneath new snow; look hard for it.
In the ski area we may get on the crown the same day, but in the back country?
One lets the monster go back to bed.
By the time new snow has smoothed out the mayhem it should be asleep.

I'm sure that the UAC or any other responsible party would not sign on to what I am saying.
Just saying what I've seen.

Fire away, Jimmy

I should probably add that after a quick new and heavy load that has mostly hidden the old crown face, those same headwaters that the monster did not pull out are not to be trusted until proven otherwise; the weak snow and bed surface are still there until they heal.

Looking at the Little Water Peak slide, it appears that 100% of the slope slid. Good place to go with a foot of new?
Something interesting about this cycle is that bed surfaces are mostly the November melt freeze crust. And that the large grained old October snow is still underneath.
That these monsters aren't running to ground is pretty interesting and speaks to the crust's strength.
What does that mean for the future?
That these same slopes could be repeaters and come back into play if we go dry around here.
We want new snow to come constantly now, bits at a time, and insulate those facets on the ground, letting them heal.
What didn't happen in November.
Pray for snow...

[telefreewasatch]

This was taken Dec 4

Edit: More photos here https://photos.google.com/share/AF1Q...JrbWFWVHBldy1R

Mar, ya owe me a Natty.
Dshack, thanks for the change.
Again.

[mar123]

Mar, ya owe me a Natty.
Dshack, thanks for the change.
Again.

looks like South Superior had old snow on it? am I missing something

but what im really trying to say is that its a south facing slope and it wouldn't facet like north facing or have a PWL anyways. ....All our aspects have snow on them now, hypothetically if it didn't snow for a month N,E and W would turn into a giant sandbox, whereas south facing would solidify.

I just thought it funny you were congratulating someone for skiing a south facing slope that you said had no old snow on it(which it did) but doesn't even matter anyways because its south facing and wouldn't have a PWL....not saying south facing cant have a PWL but think that would be extremely rare for our range.

Yeah should surf its super fun....great on high avy days makes mellow terrain way more fun. Natty, PBR, Coors all good!

[telefreewasatch]

looks like South Superior had old snow on it? am I missing something

but what im really trying to say that its a south facing slope and even if it had snow on it from last year it wouldn't facet like north facing or have a PWL anyways. ....All our aspects have snow on them now, hypothetically if it didn't snow for a month N,E and W would turn into a giant sandbox, whereas south facing would solidify.

I just thought it funny you were congratulating someone for skiing a south facing slope that had no old snow on it(which it did) but doesn't even matter anyways because its south facing and wouldn't have a PWL....not saying south facing cant have a PWL but think that would be extremely rare for our range.

Yeah should surf its super fun....great on high avy days makes mellow terrain way more fun. Natty, PBR, Coors all good!

Where he was in the high triangle, it's exit gully, and the slope underneath have no snow on Dec. 5 as per Dshack's photo. If he went skier's right he would have been in old snow.
Again, good call!

[sfotex]

looks like South Superior had old snow on it? am I missing something

but what im really trying to say is that its a south facing slope and it wouldn't facet like north facing or have a PWL anyways. ....All our aspects have snow on them now, hypothetically if it didn't snow for a month N,E and W would turn into a giant sandbox, whereas south facing would solidify.

I just thought it funny you were congratulating someone for skiing a south facing slope that you said had no old snow on it(which it did) but doesn't even matter anyways because its south facing and wouldn't have a PWL....not saying south facing cant have a PWL but think that would be extremly

https://utahavalanchecenter.org/avalanche/26182


Looks like North Facing Little Water went big today. That slope had grass sticking out of it Wednesday.

[mar123]

^remember that....thanks for posting

Maybe i'm a little out to lunch on my thoughts about south facing PWL's ...but I dont remember ever having to worry about them, maybe just my history, experience.

Cant remember a PWL of facets ever sticking around on a South Facing aspect like we typically see on north aspects.

[CirqueScaler]

Gonna talk about the crown of an avalanche.
And that 90 some percent of the time after a large event and we are trying to make pieces of the crown avalanche, we are unable to.
Even when we actively hunt the upper slopes after an event.
Kinda remarkable.
When slopes crack, settle, but don't run?
90 some percent of the time we are unable to persuade them, even with explosives.
When a slope avalanches or cracks/settles, it is said to have relieved itself.

That's really interesting to hear. Not sure if I'll ever act on that knowledge, but I was looking at the (lookers') left-most crown above Ballroom yesterday and was really surprised at how sizeable the crown and upper hangfire was. The crown looked like 6-8' tall and there seemed to be probably 200' of snow between the crown and the E Baldy ridge. I was very surprised it was still there.

Also, seeing the runout from the big Baldy shoulder slide was pretty mindblowing. It made me realize that I stand in a lot of avalanche runout zones...

But yah stoke from today:
skinning w some mags, camera tilted for gnar

sorry there are tracks in this pic, but don't worry we didn't ski in too many

[mar123]

Where he was in the high triangle, it's exit gully, and the slope underneath have no snow on Dec. 5 as per Dshack's photo. If he went skier's right he would have been in old snow.
Again, good call!

gotcha! good stuff -thanks

[skifishbum]

hooked up with the sfotex grom team for sum solisunday stuffs
mounted up a pair of 187 fat lhasas last night
got nickle changed by mcroon n soul skier when they saw em
guess i forgots to check the dins
survived the morn on the 5 din challenge rippin sunshine bowl and eagle laps
not so much on the summit back door mogul field
got to egp and the mags hooked me up with a leatherman
thanks
pleasure sharin the tude

Kidstoke
em

bmf


blasted the honeycombs all day
got hwy and egp opened
kinda odd these days to not see a track in wolvie tlp or fig 8 after a storm

theres a serenity prayer aa medallion next to the egp buddha
pwl wisdom change fkna patience

egp didnt suck



thers no place like the place ya feel at home at

[tBatt]

Gonna talk about the crown of an avalanche.
And that 90 some percent of the time after a large event and we are trying to make pieces of the crown avalanche, we are unable to.
Even when we actively hunt the upper slopes after an event.
Kinda remarkable.
When slopes crack, settle, but don't run?
90 some percent of the time we are unable to persuade them, even with explosives.
When a slope avalanches or cracks/settles, it is said to have relieved itself.

My points are that if a monster slide doesn't pull out it's headwaters with it, the weight of a skier is not likely to do what it could not.

And that collapsing/cracking if a slope does not run are actually signs of stability.
Initially and tenfold the next day...
It's easy to see crown faces and debris under new snow, but much harder to see signs of collapsing/cracking underneath new snow; look hard for it.
In the ski area we may get on the crown the same day, but in the back country?
One lets the monster go back to bed.
By the time new snow has smoothed out the mayhem it should be asleep.

I'm sure that the UAC or any other responsible party would not sign on to what I am saying.
Just saying what I've seen.

Fire away, Jimmy

Trying to find an ISSW article but coming up empty handed.
In the past few years there was a massive slide in Montana (?) and the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center forecasters took a picture of them standing under the crown a couple days later. Someone called them out saying they should be educating people and not standing under the hangfire as it was a bad example. The response was a link to an ISSW article regarding sintering rates after a subcritical failure, saying after the collapse, if it doesn't move, the grains are bonding something like 10-50 times faster than prior to the collapse. Imma keep searching for a bit, but I'd say there are pros out there who will agree with you and have data to back it up.

[jhyatt]

cheap motels on ski bus route to altabird? i will have a vehicle, just trying to do the right thing. Yes I tried searching.

[ridge_skier]

Trying to find an ISSW article but coming up empty handed.
In the past few years there was a massive slide in Montana (?) and the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center forecasters took a picture of them standing under the crown a couple days later. Someone called them out saying they should be educating people and not standing under the hangfire as it was a bad example. The response was a link to an ISSW article regarding sintering rates after a subcritical failure, saying after the collapse, if it doesn't move, the grains are bonding something like 10-50 times faster than prior to the collapse. Imma keep searching for a bit, but I'd say there are pros out there who will agree with you and have data to back it up.

It was the Flathead Avalanche Center that posted the massive slide you mentioned in Montana: https://flatheadavalanche.org/observ...he-debris-bowl
Article on sintering rates you are referring to: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley....9/2005GL025104

[jtran10]

What a week+ of skiing we've had! Not sure why phall's photo (#3) is all whack but it seems clear he needs a new phone.

[tBatt]

It was the Flathead Avalanche Center that posted the massive slide you mentioned in Montana: https://flatheadavalanche.org/observ...he-debris-bowl
Article on sintering rates you are referring to: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley....9/2005GL025104

That's exactly it, thank you!

[CirqueScaler]

It was the Flathead Avalanche Center that posted the massive slide you mentioned in Montana: https://flatheadavalanche.org/observ...he-debris-bowl
Article on sintering rates you are referring to: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley....9/2005GL025104

F me lol I don't care what science you show me, I'd be shitting myself if I stood under this crown:


In that video of the Alta slide, was a patroller caught on the lookers left?

[MagnificentUnicorn]

F me lol I don't care what science you show me, I'd be shitting myself if I stood under this crown:


In that video of the Alta slide, was a patroller caught on the lookers left?

Looks like two people in the video lookers left.


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[Woodsy]

hooked up with the sfotex grom team for sum solisunday stuffs


thers no place like the place ya feel at home at

Thanks for the smile & happy tear D.
Wealwaysknew

[Kevintheskier]

cheap motels on ski bus route to altabird? i will have a vehicle, just trying to do the right thing. Yes I tried searching.

There are no hotels period on the 994 route cheap or otherwise unless you count the hotels at the resort. The only hotels that will be had on the bus route to AltaBird are on the 953 in Midvale. Look up the UTA 953 route and then look up hotels on Google maps. The cheapest ones are going to be the ones closer to I15 at the start of the route. The ones right by I15 have a fair amount of whores and meth users in them so if you are into meth or whores there's an added plus but I don't know if the 953 goes that far down (my guess is it starts at the Trax next to the drug rehabs).

[Yukonrider]

cheap motels on ski bus route to altabird? i will have a vehicle, just trying to do the right thing. Yes I tried searching.

Studio 6 in Murray. The AltaBird bus boards right in front at 6600 S Union Park Ave, do your own research to double check.

I stayed there once a few years ago, it wasn't nice, but only had to refuse one room, and didn't get stabbed so that was good.

[jhyatt]

Studio 6 in Murray. The AltaBird bus boards right in front at 6600 S Union Park Ave, do your own research to double check.

I stayed there once a few years ago, it wasn't nice, but only had to refuse one room, and didn't get stabbed so that was good.

Thanks. Maybe I will get someplace and then just drove and then park at the bus stop. Meth and whores sounds so romantic and bohemian until you are there.

Sent from my SM-G781U1 using Tapatalk

[mooseknuckle]

LaQuinta Midvale always worked - though haven’t stayed there in some time. Bus picked up right by adjacent trax station.

[telehacker]

Good morning

In the past I have left home (Pocatello) 3am and drove up LLC and hung out before the road closure. Usually in a bird lodge that had free coffee or the GMD. I think I heard somewhere in this thread that is no longer possible.(COVID) I am thinking of the same for tomorrow's snow. Any thoughts on how to pull this off?