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Observation: Salt Lake

Observation Date
2/2/2013
Observer Name
Paradis
Region
Salt Lake
Location Name or Route
Kessler
Weather
Sky
Clear
Weather Comments
Very nice day to be outside. Cool to start at Reynolds Flat but warmed quickly, particularly in the sun. Shady north aspects were much cooler.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
6"
New Snow Density
Medium
Snow Characteristics Comments

New snow surface was primarily grauple but as others have noted this skied pretty well. More open areas had a bit of a rime crust. Other east facing areas that had lots of sun also had a bit of a sun crust by the end of the day.

Red Flags
Red Flags
Wind Loading
Collapsing
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
Several collapses were noted along the Kessler ridgline between the Lawnmower and the Slabs and in lower elevation trees. Some minor cracking was also observed. Poor structure was clear in hand pits, pole tests and visually when looking the interface between older January NSF and new snow that fell more recently. Along the ridgeline, snow was quite shallow and just barely covered older, large facets.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
New Snow
Problem #1 Comments

Red flags described above make persistent slab the primary concern today. Often this is described as low probability, high consequence. The collapsing noted indicates potential to trigger an avalanche (so not all that low probability) and the weak layer of most concern is now buried 60cms deep (significant avalanche size).

Snow Profile
Aspect
North
Elevation
8,100'
Slope Angle
31°
Comments

Pit results were somewhat inconsistent. Compression Test failed cleanly on old, deep crust (mid December rain crusts ?). This was a bit of a surprise as I was expecting to get a result on the facets that formed early in January. It was quite easy to sweep these out and I suspect this is the layer that was collapsing. The ECT produced no results.

Coordinates