Went had a look at West and South Monitor first, basically dust on crust in both bowls unless you got lucky and found some facets on the more protected north under the new snow. The wind from the last two days created some sensitive drifts on the high ridge line but from what I saw they were localized and were mainly cracking out on terrain with a slick crust underlying them, I could not get them to crack out when they were resting on facets. Decided to head over to No Name for a look, had not been there since we avalanched it out remotely on 11-23-14, dug a pit,( yeah you heard me right) on the steep north facing part of the bowl that did not avalanche on the 23rd. The facets at the ground that were underlying the slab were so damp that I could make a snowball out of them with not much effort, what was more interesting was finding a crust sitting on top of the near surface facets buried under the new snow, just like what Brett and I noted in Wilson a few days ago, but the crust was more pronounced. Easy, clean shear on this layering, under the crust on the NSF facets, took the crust with it. Not a big deal right now but once it gets more of a load it's definitely gonna be a layer to keep your eyes on in the future. Photos, Wind drifts cracking out on high ridge line, Pit in No Name, easy shear under the crust on the NSF, damp facets squeezed into a snowball underlying the slab at the ground interface, suspect crust resting on facets, and a few sucker holes during the day
Observation Date
12/13/2014
Observer Name
mark white
Region
Salt Lake » Park City Ridgeline
Location Name or Route
West, South Monitor, No Name Bowl
Comments
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate