Observation: Mt. Watson

The biggest issue with the Uinta snowpack right now is the two weak layers buried between approximately 35 and 60cm below the surface. Total snow depth was 95-145cm.

This conclusion was supported by the ECT we performed at 10,700’ on a 35° E facing slope. The notable snowpack features included a dense and saturated slab of roughly 40cm sitting atop two weak, faceted layers from January. Below these layers the snow lost much of its integrity and consisted of sugar like rounded facets. This sugar was sitting on a rocky ground bed that crated many variations in elevation and several air pockets.

We recorded a relatively weak ECT 9 with the aforementioned slab failing on the lower of the two January weak layers. As seen in the photo the slab remained intact as it failed. Landing on my leg I could feel just how heavy and dense the surface slab was. So, while everything felt great during the first half of the day, this structure is nothing ti fool around with. The weight and integrity of the slab tells me it is probably very well connected and any fracture will have the potential to propagate widely. We’re talking tree-snapping power here and such avalanches would be 100% unsurvivable. So, get in, get it and then get the hell outta there.

While we did not experience any signs of wet snow activity, we did see debris on the slope which appeared to originate from a cornice fall. It was obvious that the slide entrained a significant amount of wet surface snow and ran roughly 800’ and created a debris pile about 3’ tall.

Later in the day or on a day without a freeze, this will absolutely be a threat.