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Observation: Snowbird periphery

Observation Date
11/21/2013
Observer Name
Sean Zimmerman-Wall
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Snowbird periphery
Location Name or Route
Upper Peruvian Gulch (LCC)
Weather
Sky
Obscured
Precipitation
Light Snowfall
Weather Comments
The day started out with moderate temps and some valley fog. By 10:00am the upper mountain was socked in, but mid mountain was relatively good viz, although a bit flat lit. Almost no wind in the drainage at time of observation, but the Easterlies picked up in the afternoon. Light snowfall throughout the day.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
3"
New Snow Density
Medium
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Snow Characteristics Comments
The storm produced little bits of snowfall here and there, but over 24 hours it stacked up to some great ankle deep skiing. The older snow had settled and created a good base for some low angle wiggling.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
Simply looking at the pile of junk we have for a snowpack seems terrifying for future loading events. Right now, the average depth at upper elevations (>9500ft) is about 80cm. Most of which is F or 4F sitting on top of a 1F "snirt" layer, all of which rest on top of a F layer of depth hoar and facets. It doesn't appear that there is enough weight to overload this weak layer and make it cranky, Yet.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
New Snow
Trend
Same
Problem #1 Comments
We dug a series of pits on ENE- WNW facing slopes. All revealed a similar poor structure and notable snirt layer. The facets and depth hoar at the bottom of the pack are a bit moist right now due to the warmer temps we had experienced over the last 36-48 hours. With the cool temps forecast for the night and tomorrow morning, I imagine they will dry out a bit. Again, it seems that we are simply lacking the weight to create dangerous avalanche conditions in most areas. Of course it is possible to find full depth releases in wind loaded, shallow terrain. We kept it to low angle slopes not connected or adjacent to larger slopes. The skiing was quite good and we enjoyed the day.
Snow Profile
Aspect
Northeast
Elevation
10,300'
Slope Angle
20°
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate
Coordinates