Observation Date
1/14/2014
Observer Name
Evelyn Lees
Region
Ogden » Ben Lomond » Cutler Ridge
Location Name or Route
Ben Lomond via Cutler Ridge
Weather
Sky
Few
Wind Direction
Northwest
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
Generally light winds, moderate at times along the high ridge line.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Rain-Rime Crust
Snow Characteristics Comments
Bring some ear plugs - one of the noisiest runs I've had in a while - 4,000 vertical of rime crust, from summit to car. Yet counter-intuitively, the skiing was just fine. It's a brittle, weak crust, so you ski right through it. No complaints from me.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Recent Avalanches
Wind Loading
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
Various older avalanches, some from even last week, but all were blown back in, so depth and timing uncertain. Also, assume there was activity that is now hidden. No collapsing today, but trails were well broken and a fair number of tracks. There were reports of collasing yesterday from yesterday.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Problem #1 Comments
Snowpack structure is terrible - northerly facing slope, all elevations, lower 1/2 to 1/3 of the snow pack is basically facets. Faceted layers near the ground extend around at least onto southeast facing slopes.
Comments
Pit seemed to be in a fairly representative spot, northerly facing slope, about 8,200'. the weakest snow seemed to be directly beneath the mid pack rain crust. Seems to be another case where the storm didn't produce enough snow/water weight to create a wide spread avalanche cycle, instead most slopes seem to be left hanging, just waiting for a trigger.
Wind hammered upper ridge line.
Heavy riming along high ridge line.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Considerable
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Considerable
