Observation: Salt Lake

Observation Date
11/14/2020
Observer Name
McKinley Talty, Joey Manship
Region
Salt Lake
Location Name or Route
Willow / Monitor Ridgeline
Red Flags
Red Flags
Wind Loading
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Problem #1 Comments
We dug a pit along the Willow / Monitor ridgeline on a north facing rollover at 9,970' in wind drifted snow. Height of snow was 78 cm. Compression tests showed Q2 fractures in the wind drifted snow with moderate force (CT12 @ 29 cm below surface, CT14 @ 43 cm below surface). ECT resulted in ECTN13 @ 40 cm below the surface. Upper 38 cm of the snowpack was F+ hardness, which overlied 4F hardness snow extending to the ground.
Comments
We toured up USA bowl and found the wind had stripped the south facing slope of new snow, depositing it into South Monitor. We descended via low angle slopes in Willow and kept it safe.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Considerable
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Considerable
Coordinates