Observation: Uintas

Observation Date
12/15/2024
Observer Name
Mike J
Region
Uintas
Location Name or Route
Hoyt
Weather
Sky
Broken
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
1"
New Snow Density
Medium
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Wind Crust
Melt-Freeze Crust
Red Flags
Red Flags
Recent Avalanches
Wind Loading
Cracking
Collapsing
Poor Snowpack Structure
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Same
Comments
I got up on Hoyt today and while skinning up, I remote triggered two hard wind slab cornices. The terrain doesn’t allow for the cornices to run more than about 20 feet before landing in a gully. The first run ran about 300 ft by 15-20 feet, the other about 40x15 as well. After checking out the layer the smaller cornice failed, facets near the base, I dug in a NW aspect. Snow depth was quite variable. I saw the same weak layer at the base of the snowpack and sure enough the whole snowpack failed with 13 tabs, although the fracture was pretty rough and didn’t fall into the pit.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
High
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
High