Observation: Ben Lomond 1/2/2012

Observer Name:

Doug Wewer, Van Roberts

Region:

Ogden
Ben Lomond

Observation Date:

01/02/2012

Location or Route:

Ben Lomond Ridge Traverse

Weather

Sky:

Clear

Wind Direction:

Southwest

Wind Speed:

Moderate

Weather Comments:

I've had several people ask recently how the conditions are on Cutler Ridge. We decided to go check it out to see how bad it really is. We traversed the ridgeline from the North Ogden Divide, over Ben Lomond Peak, to the saddle just before Willard Peak. Then returned to Ben Lomond Peak and skied down Cutler Ridge.

Travelling in the mountains on a bluebird day is always great, but honestly, the ski conditions are some of the worst I've seen.

Snow Characteristics

Snow Surface Conditions:

Dense Loose

Faceted Loose

Wind Crust

Melt-Freeze Crust

Rain-Rime Crust

Snow Characteristic Comments:

Although challenging, it is possible to travel on sneakers to near Chilly Peak following a previous bootpack. We used skins beyond that for a bit, but chose to bootpack most of the day due to the conditions. The entire ridge is extremely variable, ranging from bottomless waist-deep facets to bulletproof wind slab. It is difficult to discern whether the snow will be supportable until you commit to stepping on it, making for frustrating walking.

We did make 3 (yes, three) linked turns in the trees around 8500' that were "nice." Otherwise, it was snowplowing, busting through crusts, or bushwacking.

Above 8000' the landscape is a mix of wind and sun crusts, unconsolidated facets, vegetation, and bare ground (on sun and wind exposed aspects). On the snow surface, there is a "dirty" slab mosaic from the dust/wind event on friday.

At 8000' we felt the first signs of the 12/29 rain and melt/freeze crust. This crust was initially thin, breakable and difficult to ski. By 6500' the crust was up to 6 inches thick and fully supportable.

It appears that the warm temperatures this week and subsequent refreeze has helped the faceted snow at the mid and lower elevations to gain some strength. But you can still find weak 4F and F facets below the M/F crust and in my opinion could still be a problem.

Red Flags

Recent Avalanches

Cracking

Collapsing

Primary Concern

Primary Concern:

Wind Slabs

Probability:

Considerable

Aspect:

North

Northeast

East

Southeast

Elevation:

High

Trend:

Same

snow_profile_location:

Comments - Photos - Videos (group 1)

Photo of ridgeline looking North towards Chilly Peak.

Comments - Photos - Videos (group 2)

A mosaic of "dirty" snow on the surface can be seen all over Cutler Basin.

Comments - Photos - Videos (group 3)

It was easy to collapse and crack the fresh wind slabs with the weight of a person, like on this test slope. However, we did not see as much cracking/collapsing as we had expected.

Comments - Photos - Videos (group 4)

View of typical skin track up Cutler Ridge. The only practical option below 8,000' is to use the summer trail.

Observed Danger Rating:

Considerable

Forecast Danger Rating:

Moderate