Observation: White Pine 1/16/2012

Observer Name:

Kendall/Primomo

Region:

Salt Lake
Little Cottonwood Canyon
White Pine

Observation Date:

01/16/2012

Location or Route:

LCC - White Pine Canyon

Weather

Precipitation:

Light Snowfall

Wind Direction:

Northwest

Wind Speed:

Moderate

Weather Comments:

Afternoon tour in White Pine. Light snow with chilly temperatures and moderate winds. Wind speeds were more annoying and 'breath taking' as we climbed higher. Glimpses of blue sky and sun throughout the afternoon.

Snow Characteristics

New Snow Depth:

New Snow Density:

Low

Snow Surface Conditions:

Powder

Snow Characteristic Comments:

New snow on all aspects ranging from 2 - 5 inches.

Red Flags

Wind Loading

Cracking

Red Flag Comments:

We had significant cracking on north facing wind loaded test slopes. We also witnessed a small soft slab avalanche on our walk up the White Pine summer tail.

snow_profile_location:

Comments - Photos - Videos (group 1)

A thin but wide propagating soft slab on the White Pine road cut at roughly 8,300ft. Crown was 2-4" deep, and looked to have run on the old/new interface which was small grained facets. It was "wall to wall", about 60ft. wide.