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Observation: White Pine

Observation Date
1/8/2014
Observer Name
b pelletier
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » White Pine
Location Name or Route
LCC White Pine - Up west trees to Scotties Bowl ridge; traversed south to Shady Acres then north out Scotties
Weather
Sky
Overcast
Precipitation
Moderate Snowfall
Wind Direction
Northwest
Wind Speed
Calm
Weather Comments
Snow all day long from 8am to 4pm with varying amounts per/hour; heavy at times. Little to no wind in my location.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
5"
New Snow Density
Medium
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Dense Loose
Faceted Loose
Melt-Freeze Crust
Snow Characteristics Comments
Excellent skiing conditions. Some slick crust noticed on west facing sun exposed areas on the hike up. 10K-9K West facing low-angle Shady Acres was perfect skiing conditions. 10K North facing, steep, trees had some very loose snow, no slabs present, with sluffs that ran fast and en-trained a lot of snow. Loose sluffs were easy to manage, but could be dangerous in the wrong place.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
Very loose snow on steep North facing wind sheltered terrain, no slabs were felt.
Comments
Great to have some new snow to play with in the Wasatch! The adventure today was in my old stomping grounds in White Pine and the skiing was excellent! Only problems noted were the loose snow sluffs on steep northerly and below 8000 on north facing it was faceted to ground with no structure in the snow making for difficult exiting conditions out Scotties Bowl and having a chainsaw for the bottom isn't a bad idea either.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Considerable