Backcountry riding conditions are about as bad as it gets in Utah. Thin snowpack, thin rain crust on bottomless depth hoar, a huge wind storm a couple days ago scattered pine needles most everywhere and made shallow wind slabs.
But it sure is great weather to take a tour in the mountains.
Red Flags
Wind Loading
Cracking
Collapsing
Red Flag Comments:
Wind loading patterns are very tricky. Since there was only a couple inches of graupel to blow around when the huge winds blew a couple days ago, the wind slabs are subtle and mostly shallow. They are more difficult than usual to see with surface clues. Sometimes you don't know you are on one until you feel the hard surface and hear the hollow sound. Luckily, there is a distinct dust layer on top of the rain crust so the darker areas are wind eroded and the white areas are wind deposited.
I did not see any clear evidence of avalanche activity during the storm. There were some places that looked suspicious that a thin slab may have pulled out but the wind was so ferocious during the storm that it may have filled things in as fast as they released.
Primary Concern
Primary Concern:
Persistent Slabs
Probability:
Considerable
Aspect:
North
Northeast
East
Southeast
Elevation:
High
Mid
Trend:
Less Dangerous
Primary Concern Comments:
Hard wind slabs on extremely weak, faceted snow is about the worst combination in the avalanche world. It's like when your crazy aunt comes for a visit; she just stays forever and you just never know when she's going to snap.
Most of the slabs are shallow--just 2-4 inches deep, but in some places they are loaded in quite thick and hard. With hard slabs, they can be stubborn and almost always break above you. And sitting of faceted snow, they will be very persistent, which is why it's called a persistent weak layer.
I don't like it. This means a couple weeks of tip-toeing around and staying on gentler terrain. It will heal very, very SLOWLY.
Elevation:
10000'
Aspect:
North
Slope Angle:
20
snow_profile_location:
United States
40° 32' 29.0868" N, 111° 40' 28.3224" W
Observed Danger Rating:
Considerable
Forecast Danger Rating:
Considerable
Snow Profile Location
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2242 West North Temple | Salt Lake City, UT 84116 | (801) 524-5304 | (801) 524-6301 Fax | Advisory Hotline: (888) 999-4019
Backcountry riding conditions are about as bad as it gets in Utah. Thin snowpack, thin rain crust on bottomless depth hoar, a huge wind storm a couple days ago scattered pine needles most everywhere and made shallow wind slabs.
But it sure is great weather to take a tour in the mountains.