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Observation Date
12/16/2012
Observer Name
Hardesty, Wilson
Region
Salt Lake
Location Name or Route
Bowman Fork to Gobblers and down the Shoulder
Weather
Sky
Overcast
Precipitation
Light Snowfall
Wind Direction
West
Wind Speed
Moderate
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
14"
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Snow Characteristics Comments
Good skiing
Red Flags
Red Flags
Recent Avalanches
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
Plenty of shallow 6" natural soft slabs within the storm snow noted. Westerly winds scouring and loading along the Porter/Alexander ridgeline. Plenty of whales along the high exposed ridges. Poor structure. Noted below.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
New Snow
Trend
Increasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments
Roughly 70cm - 2' plus in starting zones though quite variable due to the stronger wind events. Much of the main starting zones into Porter off Gobbler's have been eroded/stripped and are thin. This is not unusual. Still, found a foot of low density snow over 3" wind slab over the facet crust horror show. Agree with Mark White. Waiting for the load. Perhaps over the next couple of days. No cracking/significant collapsing noted.
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
New Snow
Trend
Increasing Danger
Problem #2 Comments
Plenty of shallow naturals with crowns up to 6" deep from the last 24 hours. Increasing danger as the winds are expected increase to 'strong'.