Observation Date
1/13/2019
Observer Name
Garcia, Nauman, Grote, Howell
Region
Moab
Location Name or Route
Gold Basin/Tele Gold
Weather
Sky
Broken
Precipitation
Light Snowfall
Wind Speed
Calm
Weather Comments
No wind today while we traveled at low and mid elevations. Light snowfall started in the afternoon. No accumulation today.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
2"
New Snow Density
Low
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Dense Loose
Snow Characteristics Comments
2 inches of new snow fell yesterday afternoon/evening giving a small refresh to the snow surface. On North facing terrain we experienced mostly soft conditions on a supportable base.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Cracking
Collapsing
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
We experienced multiple collapses as we traveled today. Too many to count really. Collapsing was not limited to North facing slopes. We experienced a couple whumphs while crossing the lower part of the funnel. This is a mid elevation West facing slope. Some collapses were associated with shooting cracks. Most notably we had a large whumph and a 30 foot shooting crack on the upper third of the climb up Tele Gold. We dug a pit on a North facing slope at 10,400 ft. and found a poor snowpack structure.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Same
Problem #1 Comments
We experienced numerous collapses as we traveled through Gold Basin today. We dug a pit on a North facing slope at 10,400 ft, 26 degrees in steepness. Todays pit results are consistent with reports from earlier this week. The three storm cycles since Christmas have settled into a cohesive slab in the upper part of the snow pack. Depending where you travel this slab varies from 30cm to 45cm in thickness. Beneath this slab is a layer of facets that continue to fail with stability testing. In today's pit this weak layer was found 49cm below the snow surface. A compression test yielded a CT1 Q1 SP. This layer also failed the extended colum test with ECT12. This is certainly the layer of most concern right now. Deeper in the pack I got a CT16 Q2 RP on the layer of facets above the October crust. We haven't really seen activity on this deeper weak layer, but an avalanche failing in the upper layers could step down to this layer as well.
Snow Profile
Aspect
North
Elevation
10,400'
Slope Angle
26°
Some good small tests slopes facing north. We experienced audible collapses while crossing these slopes.
Video
See the video for an explanation of our pit results. In the video I forget to mention this is a 26 degree slope, North Facing, around 10,400 ft.
Conditions are tricky at the moment. The snow pack is still talking to us with collapsing and shooting cracks. Weak layers are still reacting to stability tests. The large whumph and long shooting crack was enough to keep us from going to the very top of Tele Gold today. It is hard to make a strong case for stable snow on North and East facing terrain right now. Natural activity is not likely at this point, but human triggered is certainly possible on the north side of the compass.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate
Coordinates
