Observation Date
3/14/2017
Observer Name
C Brown
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Tanners Gulch
Location Name or Route
Tanners
Weather
Sky
Clear
Wind Direction
Northwest
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
[Forecaster Comment: Observation from 3/14] Noticted some very light winds when comming to the col at the top of Tanners. Very warm, even at 5 am when starting. Sun was out and strong, no clouds or winds to keep things cool.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Melt-Freeze Crust
Damp
Snow Characteristics Comments
Snow in the first 1,000' of tanners was lightly refrozen and not supportable to boot penetration. Same area on the way down was still same condition, and barley supportable on skis with could technique. Snow in the main chute seemed to soften a little before 10:00am and was unsupportable on steeper SE micro aspects by 10:30. Went off quick today with the marginal refreeze over night. Before the sun came out the snow seemed to be consolidated and frozen well above 9,000'. Lots of avalanche debris piles out there and deep gouges in the bed surface making for tricky skiing.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Recent Avalanches
Rapid Warming
Red Flags Comments
Lots of loose wet debris all over, not the size of debris piles you would want to be caught in. Luckly this problem is very predicitable. The ESE fork of tanners had some impressive gouging.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Wet Snow
Trend
Same
Problem #1 Comments
Very obvious and apparent and luckily predictable. AVOID steeper slopes as they heat up. Looks to me that there is still snow to be shed in places, but lots has come down already.
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
Cornice
Trend
Increasing Danger
Problem #2 Comments
Monster cornices out there still looming over lots of skiing. I kept my eye on some of the behemoths that were looming above us all morning, but did not observe and calving events today. Would expect with these marginal refreezes and warm days and strong sun that these things will come down soon.
Also observed the glide cracks in Broads forks. There are quite a few out there that haven't released yet. Be weary of these and avoid traveling under these as they are unpredictable and large.
Comments
Looking down at the wet debris and slightly gouged slope in uper Tanners. Makes for interesting skiing. A look into Broads and the E face of the twin, there are some obvious glide cracks that haven't released yet, and are pretty high on the slopes.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate
