Observation: Gold Basin

Observation Date

1/24/2026

Observer Name

Chris Benson

Region

Moab » Gold Basin

Location Name or Route

Gold Basin

Weather

Sky

Broken

Precipitation

Light Snowfall

Wind Direction

Northwest

Wind Speed

Light

Weather Comments

Gradually clearing, with a touch of NW wind.

Snow Characteristics

New Snow Depth

10"

New Snow Density

Low

Snow Surface Conditions

Powder

Snow Characteristics Comments

Good snow- some wind affect during the storm but overall, most areas stayed light and fluffy. Gold Miners skied pretty well- could feel the underlying crust but didn't hit any rocks.

Red Flags

Wind Loading

Cracking

Poor Snowpack Structure

Red Flags Comments

A couple of dry loose avalanches in Gold Basin- possibly a small slab release as well. Not sure but the East face of Tukno had a strange linear feature (maybe a flank??) I did get a couple of sets of shooting cracks in low angle, north-facing, shallow rocky terrain. Was good to remember what those look like since ive only seen a few this year. It seems like on polars, the new snow fell on some near surface facets and I was able to produce an ECT at this interface.

Avalanche Problem #1

Problem

Persistent Weak Layer

Trend

Decreasing Danger

Problem #1 Comments

Multiple depths with PWL, with crusts interwoven. Southerlies didn't seem to have this set up for the shallow pwl, as the new snow fell on a solid crust.

The SWE didn't seem to tip the balance too much- but areas with wind stiffened snow will be deeper and stiffer- still not putting to much stock in our classic poor structure.

Avalanche Problem #2

Problem

Wind Drifted Snow

Trend

Same

Problem #2 Comments

Could see the wind picking up on Manns from town- thinking that northerly winds may be a factor tonight/tomorrow. Something to keep an eye on.

Snow Profile

Aspect

Northeast

Elevation

11,600'