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Observation: Whitney Basin

Observation Date
1/29/2013
Observer Name
Ted Scroggin
Region
Uintas
Location Name or Route
Whitney Basin-Gold Hill
Weather
Sky
Obscured
Precipitation
Moderate Snowfall
Wind Direction
Northwest
Wind Speed
Moderate
Weather Comments
A cool brisk day with gusty northwest winds. There were some brief breaks with glimpses of the sun, but mostly light to moderate snow and some new snow accumulation.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
8"
New Snow Density
Medium
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Wind Crust
Melt-Freeze Crust
Snow Characteristics Comments
Around 8" of new snow since Monday in the Gold Hill Basin. Traveled around on the south aspects to gain the ridge overlooking the north facing terrain. A very stout and supportable melt/freeze crust on the south slopes with several inches of new snow. North facing terrain in sheltered areas has nice riding and turning.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Wind Loading
Cracking
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
Not a lot of new snow yet to tip the balance, but the winds are making up for the lack of snow. I encountered brisk north and northwest winds that were moving snow onto the south and south/east aspects. The south slopes were receiving the most wind drifting while I was out, but the north facing terrain still had somewhat sensitive soft slab conditions. Some of these soft slabs were up to a foot deep, but not breaking very wide.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
New Snow
Problem #1 Comments
The main concern would likely be the buried weak faceted snow from earlier this month and the new snow and wind is starting to slowly stack the weight on. I did not observe any natural activity or collapsing of the snow in my travels, but the steady winds should elevate the hazard.
Comments
Sensitive soft slabs up to a foot deep were easily triggered from the ridgeline on north facing slopes. These were not running very far.
The brisk north and north/west winds were drifting the new snow onto the south and south/east aspects throughout the day.