Observation: Cottonwood Ridgeline

Observation Date

4/2/2026

Observer Name

Maushund, Drinkwater

Region

Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Cottonwood Ridgeline

Location Name or Route

Cottonwood Ridgeline

Weather

Sky

Obscured

Precipitation

Moderate Snowfall

Wind Speed

Moderate

Weather Comments

Roads were dry and the sky was overcast as we pulled into the Grizzly lot just before 10am. By the time we had our boots on, the sky was becoming obscure, and snow/graupel mix was falling S2. As we ascended, visibility deteriorated to as little as 50' at times with moderate NW winds. This continued into the late morning, near 11:20am, when loud thunder boomed a handful of times nearby. We descended in flat light to find all lifts on lightning hold at resorts. After the convective cell left our area on radar, around 14:00, I returned as precipitation tapered off before a handful more pulses continued just 20-30 minutes after.

Snow Characteristics

New Snow Density

Medium

Snow Surface Conditions

Powder

Dense Loose

Wind Crust

Snow Characteristics Comments

The first storm this week deposited fresh hot, heavy snow under low-hanging clouds, which contributed to greenhousing. Warmer temps led to this snow causing a wet avalanche cycle. This snow became wetted in many locations before temperatures dropped heading into the second pulse. The second storm that arrived this morning came in much colder, with freezing levels starting 2000' lower than the first storm. Total HST in sheltered terrain, near 10,000' in upper LCC was 28in.

The main instability we observed today as the second storm blew in was new, colder snow/graupel mix building into slabs on leeward terrain. This was primarily running on top of refrozen snow from the first storm, with occasional step-downs to the new/old interface from our period of high pressure.The wind was certainly sculpting terrain and making drifts that were quite sizeable (>4 feet deep), especially given how little snow was available for transport before these systems. The denser nature on the drifted snow is making even slabs a bit more stubborn to trigger, however they are easy to find.

With Nikki's photos of upper LCC before these two storms, most all snow on solars we traveled was from this week's two systems.

Red Flags

Heavy Snowfall

Wind Loading

Cracking

Collapsing

Red Flags Comments

We were able to get cracking in the skintrack in the new snow from today's storm, fracturing primarily on top of yesterday's storm snow. There was quite a bit of wind transport both in deposition during the storm and redeposition from the earlier storm snow (see photo #1 below).

Avalanche Problem #1

Problem

Wind Drifted Snow

Trend

Increasing Danger

Comments

One of the biggest safety hazards we observed today was shallowly-buried obstacles. The storm snow from these two small systems came in quite dense and heavy initially, which means that it is the perfect density to disguise rocks, logs, cables, metal pilings, etc. that you may find in upper LCC, even with very shallow depth. Keep in mind that if you're planning to travel on solars, sharks are a widespread problem.

Photos:

#1: Wind-scouring (left) and wind-loading (right). Keep in mind this slope was entirely dirt before these storms.

#2: A non-snow hazard: now-exposed old cables, mining equipment, pilings, etc.

#3: Cracking in the second storm snow, on top of a slicker surface of refrozen snow from the first storm.

#4: While slabs proved a bit more stubborn than we anticipated due to the density of the snow, this was a small skier-triggered pocket.

#5: The debris from the wind-loaded pocket.

#6: We made a comment that it felt like we were skiing in October due to the coverage. Does it count as early-season skiing for the 26-27 season? You be the judge.

Coordinates

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