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Observation: Miner's Basin

Observation Date
12/16/2023
Observer Name
Garcia/Ament
Region
Moab » Miner's Basin
Location Name or Route
Miner's Basin
Weather
Sky
Few
Wind Speed
Calm
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Dense Loose
Faceted Loose
Wind Crust
Melt-Freeze Crust
Snow Characteristics Comments
Went for a walk up Miner's to check snow depths in the North group. There was about 6" of snow at the TH around 7,900'. Solar aspects had little to no snow. HS varied greatly by aspect and elevation. The deepest snow is on shady North facing slopes. We found 78cm in our snow pit today at 10,850' on a NW aspect.
Surface conditions are a real mixed bag. Shady slopes are loud pow, surface hoar and NSF. Some old wind crusts exists in isolated areas. We encountered thin melt-freeze crusts on some solar aspects.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
Poor snowpack structure exists on shady slopes that harbor old snow from November. A layer of near-surface facets formed in the upper pack and was buried by the 12/13 storm that dropped about 5".
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Problem #1 Comments
Avalanche conditions are relatively benign for now, but I see three potential problems for the future.
1. Buried near-surface facets. This weak layer has been forming in the upper part of the pack during the long dry spell. This layer was buried on 12/13. I feel like even a small amount of wind-drifted snow could cause this layer to fail and start producing avalanches. And of course any additional load from a storm has the potential to cause this layer to fail.
2. Basal facets. The facets at the bottom of the pack have not been tested yet. They are dormant for now, but we'll see how they hold up to our first real loading event.
3. Surface hoar: We observed a good amount of surface hoar on shady slopes today - not enough to be considered widespread, but easily observed on many shady slopes. We will have to wait and see if the surface hoar is destroyed before the next storm, or if it gets buried.
Snow Profile
Aspect
Northwest
Elevation
10,800'
Slope Angle
31°
It's still very thin cover out there. It's nice to be walking around with skis on, but real turning and riding is hard to come by right now.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Low
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Low
Coordinates