Observation: Wolverine

Observation Date
2/1/2026
Observer Name
Gagne
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Wolverine
Location Name or Route
Mt Wolverine
Weather
Sky
Scattered
Wind Direction
West
Wind Speed
Moderate
Weather Comments
Moderate, gusty winds from the west that kept temperatures cool above 10,000 feet. Despite the winds, no drifting was observed.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Dense Loose
Faceted Loose
Wind Crust
Melt-Freeze Crust
Damp
Comments

Travel today was Alta-based: Catherine's Pass -> Sunset Peak -> Wolverine -> Grizzly exit.

Things I noticed:

1. The few cms of snow from this past Wednesday has turned to facets with some surface hoar (photo below). The widespread weak snow at the surface is similar to what Nikki and Brooke found on Friday on their LCC -> BCC -> MCC tour. This weak snow at the surface will be a significant problem if/when it gets covered by new snow and/or wind-drifted snow, but for now its biggest issue is long-running facet-sluffs in steep terrain, such as today's short catch-and-carry on Barrieto.

2. The snowpack is now completely faceted in the top 60 cms down to the supportable holiday crust. This is similar to what Bo found on Friday in Days Fork. The crust is still intact and providing supportable travel and riding conditions.

3. Southeast/South/Southwest aspects at the upper elevations have various crusts with some faceting around the crusts, especially on southeast aspects.

Today's Observed Danger Rating
Low
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Low
Coordinates