Observation Date
11/30/2012
Observer Name
Ted Scroggin
Region
Uintas
Location Name or Route
Bald Mt Hwy 150
Weather
Sky
Overcast
Wind Direction
Southwest
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
Clouds hanging over the higher peaks with gray skies and the winds were beginning to increase as the afternoon went on.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Dense Loose
Faceted Loose
Wind Crust
Melt-Freeze Crust
Snow Characteristics Comments
With the overall thin snow cover, there is a variety of snow conditions out there right now. Very loose faceted surface snow, wind crust and melt freeze crust. The riding and turning conditions are quite limited and challenging. The long dry spell has taken it's toll on the snowpack, there is little in the way of supportable snow unless you find a few patches of hard wind slab.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Wind Loading
Red Flags Comments
The increasing winds were the only concern I observed today. It will be interesting to see how the thin weak snowpack handles the approaching storms. In many locations at higher elevations the snowpack is basically faceted snow from top to bottom with little in the way of a slab.
Comments
Not a big change in the snow coverage from a week ago, still lots of rocky terrain and hazards showing.
If you really go out of your way and stomp around hard enough a few isolated old one finger hard wind slabs that fail on the weak faceted snow can be found. I would not see these as a big threat right now due to the difficulty in traveling around.
