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Observation: Mill Hollow/Duchesne Ridge

Observation Date
1/26/2021
Observer Name
jg
Region
Uintas » Mill Hollow/Duchesne Ridge
Location Name or Route
Mill Hollow/Duchesne Ridge
Weather
Sky
Overcast
Precipitation
Light Snowfall
Wind Direction
West
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
Overcast skies to start the day, breaking up a little as the day went on but mostly the sun stayed behind the clouds. On and off instability showers not adding up to anything by day's end. Temps in the single digits and low teens at 9K. Winds were very light where we were.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Density
Low
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Snow Characteristics Comments
About a foot of settled storm snow.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Cracking
Collapsing
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
Lots of audible collapses and cracking. Very poor snowpack structure.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Same
Problem #1 Comments
This is going to be our main problem for a while. We were easily getting large areas to collapse under the weight of a skier, from either walking or skiing. Some collapses you could feel the pack drop under your skis.
Snow Profile
Aspect
North
Elevation
9,300'
Slope Angle
18°
Comments
Low elevation terrain has very little to basically no snow. Mid elevations are thin and faceted top to bottom making travel tedious and harboring many hidden rocks, stumps and downed trees. Upper elevation terrain has around 3 feet of total snow, give or take a bit. Nice day of winter skiing and riding in the upper elevation terrain. Still lots of signs of a weak snowpack with lots of collapsing and cracking. ECT tests failed with medium effort and propagated a fracture across the column. These failed below a decomposing crust on 2mm facets about 64cms down (25"). Also getting mixed results on small grain facets about 30 cms down (13"). I have a low tolerance for risk based on our snowpack setup so I'm going to continue to avoid terrain 30° and steeper. If you're traveling in terrain steeper than 30° I feel there is a considerable avalanche danger.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Considerable
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Considerable