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Observation Date
1/6/2013
Observer Name
Bruce Tremper
Region
Salt Lake
Location Name or Route
White pine to Spire and ridgeline between White and Red Pine
Weather
Sky
Overcast
Wind Direction
South
Wind Speed
Moderate
Weather Comments
Overcast with clouds above the mountain tops for most of the day but it cleared out at the end of the day. Temperatures were about 10 degrees warmer today than yesterday.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Faceted Loose
Snow Characteristics Comments
On my day off, I went back to White Pine with friends. Still some nice riding on near-surface faceted snow on all the shady aspects if you could find a place without pre-existing ski tracks, which is getting increasingly difficult even in a big drainage like White Pine. South facing slopes are sun crusted and the upper elevation, wind exposed terrain is a bit wind hammered but you can still find some sheltered slopes even at the highest elevations.
Red Flags
Red Flags Comments
No real red flags. Even though moderate winds were blowing from the south, the previous winds have already blown snow around so this wind does not seem to be transporting any snow. I did find one very small pocket that cracked out 3 inches deep and 10 feet wide but they seem rare.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Problem #1 Comments

Once again, the avalanche danger seemed low in all areas. People have skied every imaginable slope with abandon and no one seemed to be triggering anything. I felt comfortable in steep terrain and our party was able to get into some slopes that I have never been on before because I was waiting for snow conditions just like this. We skied several 40+ degree slopes in sketchy terrain.

Interesting, that yesterday, the near-surface faceted snow was sluffing easily on steep terrain and today it was more stubborn. With the cloudy skies and warmer temperatures it may have allowed the NSF snow to set up a little.

Snow Profile
Aspect
East
Elevation
9,400'
Slope Angle
40°
Comments

Snow profile was quite solid and broke only on the deeply buried faceted layer, now buried over a meter deep, with hard blows on a compression test. This was consistent across 4 tests.

Coordinates