Observation: Moffit Peak

Observation Date
2/8/2024
Observer Name
Staples & Gidley
Region
Uintas » Moffit Peak
Location Name or Route
Moffit Peak
Weather
Weather Comments
Brief moments of sun then periods of heavy snowfall and poor viz
Snow Characteristics
Snow Characteristics Comments
DEEP - best snow and best coverage in the country
Red Flags
Red Flags
Heavy Snowfall
Red Flags Comments
2-3" of water since last Friday
Comments
We rode around Moffit looking at the West, North, and East faces. Saw one avalanche from maybe yesterday morning because the debris looked like it had a foot of snow on top of it. (Photo below).
The main thing is that there is a TON of new snow (about 2-3" of water since last Thursday) combined with just enough avalanche activity to make me very nervous. The other thing is that winds have been blowing from the south for about a week. Not the strongest winds, but they have been perfect for moving snow.
The challenge in the Uintas is that we don't have people out watching all the big slopes to help us know what happened. HOWEVER, the ski areas in the Wasatch can give great info. The snowpack there isn't all that different from the Uintas. This avalanche reported from near Heber Mtn caught my eye.
This one from Alta stands out as well.
There have been others like one skier triggered yesterday in LCC that was 2' deep and 700' wide.
There were also slides that broke deep in the snowpack prior to this storm.
I fear that we will see more massive avalanches.
Video
Snow in the trees was deeper and had not been wind affected. See the snow texture in the photo below.
Also, I am no longer digging in undisturbed areas to assess the snowpack. The layers in starting zones are much different now because most steep slopes have avalanched 1 or 2 times at least which has changed the stratigraphy. We wanted to dig on the east face of Moffit which avalanched around Jan 20 but viz deteriorated and prevented us from safely accessing it.
Double hill is a good example of a slope that avalanched huge and doesn't have the same snowpack layers as an undisturbed area.
Photos of a the west sides of Moffit with no recent avalanches...but I don't trust it AT ALL
Today's Observed Danger Rating
High
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Considerable
Coordinates