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Observation: Snowbasin

Observation Date
4/17/2020
Observer Name
Derek DeBruin
Region
Ogden » Snowbasin
Location Name or Route
Snowbasin, Mount Ogden
Weather
Weather Comments
Chilly this morning, but warmed quite quickly once the sun was up. Generally calm winds; the occasional gentle breeze on the ridgeline. Sky was clear above, but a misty valley fog hung below, perhaps a bit of an inversion in effect.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Dense Loose
Snow Characteristics Comments
A few inches of fresh snow down low, up to about 1 foot of powder or perhaps a bit more at the highest elevations. This was generally rimed forms with some preserved stellars in the mix, the ratio changing in favor of stellars with increasing elevation. In a couple specific locations I also found a bit of small grain surface hoar mixed in the upper portion of the surface snow--due north, shady, near the trees, protected hollows. With the warm up this weekend, I doubt this poses concerns, but then again the avalanche on No Name near the end of March wasn't really on the radar, and I found the same problem a couple days later near the Needles. All that said, there was pretty enjoyable skiing to be had in the dense new snow.
Comments
I didn't have the time or wherewithal this morning to really poke around or do much digging, but I'll share my thoughts on the concerns nonetheless.
1) Cornices have been reinvigorated a bit and deserve continued respect.
2) Surface snow that I found at the mid and upper elevations was dense enough that it wasn't very long running, even on the steeper (>35 degrees) terrain. Could still generate some mass with it and maybe get knocked over, though. On the flip side, dense could mean consolidating, and therefore a slab later.
3) Aside from the cornices, wind effects that might cause concern seemed pretty isolated. There were clearly wind effects on the snow surface at the mid/upper elevations, with broad ripples on the snow surface, but I did not see much for widespread or specific wind slab formation. I'd bet there's some isolated pockets lurking, though, based on the other wind evidence.
4) Riming is still present at the upper elevations. The towers on the summit of Mount Ogden were happy to jettison their icy burdens today in the sunshine. For that reason, a helmet would be a good idea in spots on the uptrack near the ridgelines.
5) In places, there was a noticeable density change while skinning in the mid-storm new snow, but it was all generally right side up with no cracking or collapsing.
6) I did some stomping around, dropped a small hunk of cornice, and slashed a ski cut to no effect. If the preponderance of tracks from yesterday in steep upper elevation terrain can be considered test slopes, then test slopes were unreactive, too. Did not see any real evidence of new avalanche activity.
7) I was back at the car shortly before 10:00am and did not stick around to witness the totality of the day's warm up. However, I have to imagine the wet slide problem as forecast comes to fruition given the rapid rise in the mercury and sun in full effect.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
None
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
None