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Observation: Alta Ski Area

Observation Date
11/8/2020
Observer Name
Taylor R
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Alta Ski Area
Location Name or Route
Collins Gulch
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
New Snow
Problem #1 Comments
  • 2 feet of new snow in the last 24hrs.
  • Snow felt and looked right side up in a hand pit (~9.7k ft, NW aspect).
  • Sluffing on steeper slopes.
  • This storm represents roughly the entire base we have right now, so early season concerns with the ground/ snow interface and gliding come into play as well.
Comments
Made my way up to Alta today and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this storm. I stayed in the Collins Gulch area and found fantastic snow that got deeper towards the top due to some transport from SE winds in the morning (based off readings from the weather station at the top of Collins), but did witness several sluffs run in front of skiers and riders coming down this top section on my way up.
Overall a fantastic day and a great start to the season. Big thank you to Alta for being so generous with their uphill policy.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Considerable
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Considerable
Coordinates