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Observation Date
1/5/2013
Region
Salt Lake
Location Name or Route
Brighton perimeter: UAC Class general ob
Weather
Sky
Clear
Wind Direction
West
Wind Speed
Calm
Weather Comments
Bluebird day, the warmest temps in weeks, Winds variable and mostly calm. No transport noted by any groups.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Dense Loose
Faceted Loose
Wind Crust
Melt-Freeze Crust
Damp
Snow Characteristics Comments
It's all out there. 5 groups hitting every piece of terrain around Brighton. Of note: Kickert's comments on upper elevation terrain around Wolverine being a bit more consolidated/dense and less prone to sluffing. Most likely due to wind from the past week since the last events. The fact is he never rode steep north facing terrain at these upper elevations. Dodge's group reported from various aspects and all above noted conditions were reported. Reports from others included m/f crust and facet sandwiches that were yielding easy shears upon isolation. My group traveled in the Back Bowls and Figure 8 and (as with all other groups) noted extensive widespread weak surface snow that was up to 30 cm deep in many locations.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Recent Avalanches
Cracking
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
Obviously the primary concern continues to the be weak surface snow and it's poor snowpack structural implications once we get a significant load either from new snow and or wind. Remote weather stations early this morning and from overnight on the Saturday indicate we may be getting some of this critical loading occurring due to the winds. Minor cracking was noted by Hardesty's group in isolated wind pockets. All groups reported loose snow avalanche activity in the upper levels of the snowpack from rider activity on steep terrain, as well as wet loose snow avalanches from the increased warming over the past few days.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Problem #1 Comments

Increasing winds overnight appear to offer the only significant new type of avalanche hazard. Fresh wind slabs may be building on the previously cited weak surface snow. As a result they may be a bit more sensitive to the weight of a rider than under other conditions.

Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
New Snow
Problem #2 Comments

It's been a while since we have seen this issue pop up, yet with the unusual S and SE winds loading leeward terrain, there may still be potential for areas with thin snowpacks on the shady aspects to become active again. Of note: Dodge's group was able to identify significant weaknesses that were validated by ECT and CT scores on upper elevation S facing aspects with a shallow snowpack. As the winds on Sunday won't be actually loading these possible areas, it is worth noting how there is an abundance of potential weak snow conditions on all aspects. Hazard observed on Saturday: mostly Low with possible isolated pockets of Moderate in steep wind loaded terrain. As well as this, it was noted that there was a possibility of loose snow avalanches taking someone into unfriendly terrain if taken off your feet and not using good sluff management techniques. For Sunday, there now appears to be a much more widespread potential for a Moderate Hazard for fresh wind slabs resting on extremely weak surface snow conditions.