Observation Date
12/8/2013
Observer Name
Ben Peters
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Silver Fork » West Bowl
Location Name or Route
Silver Fork West Bowl
Comments
Skinned up Flagstaff and traversed the ridge above Days Fork over to West Bowl. Felt numerous collapses and were able to get some snow to move when we knocked cornices down.
In West Bowl, we dug a pit and got two Q1 failures on compression tests, one on isolation, one on 4. Both failed on the interface between the consolidated snow from 12/2-12/4 and the faceted older snow between, and would be a ~30-40 cm slab. There is still a very strong temperature gradient over this interface (~6 C/ 10 cm), and the grains of the old snow are ~1.5mm with some solid angles. We did notice some evidence of sintering in the grains, but I think it's going to be a while before it fully heals.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Considerable
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Considerable