Observation: Collins Gulch

Observation Date
10/31/2013
Observer Name
Michael Janulaitis
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Collins Gulch
Location Name or Route
Alta Ski Area (currently closed)
Weather
Sky
Broken
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
1"
New Snow Density
Medium
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Wind Crust
Red Flags
Red Flags
Recent Avalanches
Heavy Snowfall
Wind Loading
Cracking
Poor Snowpack Structure
Snow Profile
Aspect
Northwest
Elevation
10,500'
Slope Angle
36°
Comments

Nice day in the mountains. The snow is dense which is great for this time of year. There was some riming above 9600 feet. The east aspects had melted out prior to the storm and that is where I spent most my time skiing. The north slopes are quite deep for this time of year. I noticed one slide which looked like it naturaled during the storm on the NE face of Baldy. It ran from the top all the way to the base and was about 50 feet wide. I dug in several places. There is about 8cm of facets below the melt-freeze layer that occured prior to the last storm. I was able to get some scary cracks ski cutting on the NW side of baldy below the ridgeline. All my stability tests show good stability with no Q1 failures.

Coordinates