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Observation Date
11/29/2012
Region
Salt Lake
Location Name or Route
Head of Little Cottonwood Canyon - quick trip to Patsy Marly
Weather
Sky
Scattered
Wind Speed
Moderate
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Dense Loose
Faceted Loose
Wind Crust
Melt-Freeze Crust
Snow Characteristics Comments
Snow is old and worn out, sun crusts on sun exposed slopes, wind slabs and wind board on upper elevation, wind exposed slopes. Still a few scraps of soft, dry, recrystallized snow on the wind sheltered northerly-facing slopes. Turning conditions are very challenging and mostly not worth the effort.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem #1 Comments
No avalanche problems now but with the next storm we should have problems with persistent slab avalanches on the northerly facing slopes, especially in wind-protected areas. The near-surface faceted snow is about 10 cm deep on the snow surface. Once loaded with weight, it should continue to produce avalanches for a week or more after the expected series of storms in the next week. The new snow will likely not produce as persistent problems on the south facing slopes because of the lack of faceted snow and more anchors on south facing slopes. On south faces, I would expect avalanche problems to be limited to the new snow or sliding on the slippery, old, sun crusts, but probably not very persistent after the storm.
Snow Profile
Aspect
North
Elevation
10,000'
Slope Angle
41°
Coordinates