Observation: West Bowl 1/27/2012

Observer Name:

Glew

Region:

Salt Lake
Big Cottonwood Canyon
Silver Fork
West Bowl

Observation Date:

01/27/2012

Location or Route:

Silver Fork

Weather

Sky:

Clear

Wind Direction:

Northwest

Wind Speed:

Calm

Weather Comments:

Clear skies besides some clouds that moved in later in the day.

Snow Characteristics

New Snow Depth:

New Snow Density:

Medium

Snow Surface Conditions:

Powder

Melt-Freeze Crust

Damp

Snow Characteristic Comments:

Found really nice snow all day yesterday. Any slope with southerly exposure will have a zipper crust on them tomorrow.

Red Flags

Recent Avalanches

Heavy Snowfall

Wind Loading

Collapsing

Red Flag Comments:

I experienced one major collpase while skinning up West Bowl. WPG and the resorts pulled out some deep slabs.

Primary Concern

Primary Concern:

Deep Slabs

Probability:

Considerable

Aspect:

North

Northeast

East

West

Northwest

Elevation:

High

Trend:

Less Dangerous

Primary Concern Comments:

The spacial variability is amazing. WPG dropped two bombs in north facing Silver Fork with no results, while in the next drainage over (Days Fork) a touring party triggered a deep slab avalanche with a cornice drop. These slabs are not something you want to mess around with. So stick to lower angle slopes for now.

snow_profile_location:

Observed Danger Rating:

Considerable

Forecast Danger Rating:

Considerable