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Observation: Meadows

Observation Date
1/31/2023
Observer Name
T Diegel
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Silver Fork » Meadows
Location Name or Route
Silver fork meadows and Days Fork
Weather
Sky
Clear
Weather Comments
very benign; cold in the hollers but warm off the bottoms.
Comments
I went up into the Silver Fork Meadows to check it out a coupla days after Fast Jimmy's avy there since I know that area fairly well and had skied it last week before this last kinda weird cycle (and do a little skiing and thought it might add a little more info to the Dave/Mark video chat a couple of days ago. I couldn't quite get to the crown but dug a coupla hasty pits at comparable elevations to get down to the layer that slid on Jimmy, and indeed saw a nice shear plane about 18" down (see pic). I gave it my super-calibrated, mittened-up hand-tug from the back and it came off....right with about the amount of pressure that I think is "okay", but just barely (ie - any easier for it to pop free and it would make me nervous). As such I skied nearby (above, below, and adjacent), similarly-steep lines but tried to keep them somewhat "supported" (either slightly concave or from below) and I didn't dawdle while skiing them, and was confident they wouldn't move. This time I was correct. Later - in Days Fork - I saw plenty o' tracks on slopes very comparable to Jimmy's avy that were fully tracked in what looks like the last coupla days, so maybe - pursuant to the question posed by Mark in the video - that layer is possibly "healing?" (sintering? I don't really know what that means....but I do know "healing").
I think even with the cold temps the dastardly sun got to the south slopes; today was just a zipper crust that softened nicely, tomorrow may be a bit more challenging, and as the week goes on with continued warming temps and plenty of sun that could make that weird facet sandwich get more reactive? I dunno. But I've gotten caught in a "cold" January wet slide on a steep south slope and it was sub-optimal, so I will be avoiding those later in the day over the next few days.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Low
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Low
Coordinates