The Geyser Pass Road was plowed on Tuesday, but 3"-5" of new snow has fallen since then. 4x4 with good tires is recommended.
The Lower Utah Nordic Alliance (LUNA) last packed and rolled the lower meadow through Gold Basin on Thursday.
24 Hour Snow 0" 72 Hour Snow 2" Base Depth in Gold Basin 50" Wind NW 10-15 G25 Temp 9F
Another beautiful day is on tap with sunny skies, light to moderate WNW ridgetop winds, and high temps at 10,000' near 30F. We'll see more of the same for the next couple of days before a weak disturbance brings clouds and a slight chance for snow on Wed.
Snowpack Discussion
It was another beautiful day in the mountains yesterday with a surprising amount of soft snow still to be found. SW aspects are crusted over and shifting winds in the high country have also affected exposed surfaces, but sheltered slopes out of the wind zone still have good snow. Just remember to keep your slope angles under 30 degrees. Persistent weak layers of sugary, faceted snow still exist on most aspects, but it's been more than a week since the last significant load. Travis Nauman reported signs of a strengthening snowpack in this
observation. By contrast, I also received this
observation from the Corksrew Glades. where collapsing and whumphing were reported to be fairly widespread in that dark and shady zone. Bottom line is that a weak, faceted snowpack is not to be trusted, especially on northerly aspects where deep and dangerous, human triggered avalanches remain likely.
Safe riding for conditions on February 21:
It's been a week since any natural avalanche activity has occurred. Natural activity from last weekend's storm was surprisingly low. With the current poor snowpack structure, this means many steep slopes are hanging in balance just waiting for a human trigger.
