Observation: Uintas 1/8/2012

Observer Name: 
Janulaitis
Region: 
Uintas
Observation Date: 
01/08/2012
Location or Route: 
Mirror Lake
Weather
Sky: 
Obscured
Wind Direction: 
North
Wind Speed: 
Strong
Weather Comments: 

Although calm and warm at the trail head (MM15) at around 9500 ft the wind turned on like a light switch. Strong wind from the north. Not much snow to blow around. Ridgelines were scoured clean.

Snow Characteristics

New Snow Depth: 
4"
New Snow Density: 
Low
Snow Surface Conditions: 
Powder
Dense Loose
Faceted Loose
Wind Crust
Snow Characteristic Comments: 

Dug a pit at 10700 on a north slope in the trees. 90cm deep. Neither ECT or CT fractured. Shovel sheer produced fracture above buried slab about a foot deep and again below the slab on the melt-freeze layer. Slab was cohesive. Where ever the snow had loaded I was able to easily get shooting cracks in front of my skis but because of the lack of snow they just didn’t go very far. I was only able to get eyes on a few peaks. I did not see any fractures on Watson (E) or Bald (E-S). With all of the faceted snow I had difficulty getting traction with my skins. It was a leather boot or 4-stroke touring day. At lower altitude users were on their 4-wheelers or horses.

Primary Concern

Primary Concern: 
Deep Slabs
Probability: 
Considerable
Aspect: 
North
Elevation: 
High
Trend: 
Same
snow_profile_location: 
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Observed Danger Rating: 
Considerable

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