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Observation: South Mountain

Observation Date
1/9/2025
Observer Name
Chris Benson
Region
Moab » South Mountain
Location Name or Route
South Mountain North Bowl via Pack Creek
Weather
Sky
Scattered
Precipitation
Light Snowfall
Wind Direction
North
Wind Speed
Strong
Weather Comments
The day started dark and stormy with strong N winds moving some snow at ridgeline. Hard to tell just how much snow was being transported, I could see some good-sized summit plumes around dawn from my living room, but in the protected terrain trap of Pack Creek, I didn't get a good sense of what was happening in the wind zone. Winds died down after noon, temps stayed fairly cold, and clouds cleared.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Faceted Loose
Wind Crust
Snow Characteristics Comments
On polar aspects, Hs ranged from 5cm at 7,500' up to about 60 cm around 10K. Southerlies were almost bare all the way up to 9,500'. Recent Northerly winds have wreaked havoc on any exposed surface. Near treeline around 9k on a westerly aspect, Hs was ~30cm and consisted of a supportive Mf crust covered by the recent snow which appears to have begun to turn to facets. At higher elevations in open areas, 1-5cm thick "wind board" was producing shooting cracks up to 30'. Along with the cracking, I obsered audible collapsing. Ski quality was very poor.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Wind Loading
Cracking
Collapsing
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
As mentioned above, I observed several shooting cracks and audible collapses while breaking trail up lower-angle polar aspects exposed to the wind. I did not need to dig a pit as there were obvious facets underneath the wind board.
Comments
Photo 1) Low tide in the North Bowl of South Mountain. I thought I could see some old debris as well as some possible crown lines.
Photo 2) Ridge between Tuk and Peale looks to have good coverage and was perhaps filling in a bit with the northerly winds.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
None
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
None
Coordinates