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Observation: Catherine's Pass

Observation Date
12/28/2013
Observer Name
Robbins
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Catherine's Pass
Location Name or Route
Catherine's Area/Alta Periphery
Weather
Sky
Few
Wind Direction
Northwest
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
A mild day in the mountains... the clouds came and went throughout the day, with relatively clear skies and consistent sun for the latter half. Breezy on 10k' ridgelines, although not really enough to be moving snow around. No precip all day in Upper LCC.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Dense Loose
Wind Crust
Damp
Snow Characteristics Comments

Soft settled snow on NW through E aspects. Sun crust that softened throughout the day on the S. We rode low angle (<33 degrees) NE and E slopes, and the snow was supportable and bouncy. Recent winds had filled in many tracks on these aspects, creating even better riding conditions.

Red Flags
Red Flags
Cracking
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
Very poor structure exists on upper elevation W-NW-N-NE-E slopes. Some slopes are hanging in the balance. I observed cracking (a sort of stress crack, where the slope would have slid if it had been a touch steeper) on a steep rollover section in a VERY popular backcountry area right outside of Alta. When we returned to this same location after a lap or two, there were a few more cracks in the slope, which is when I took the picture below. Definitely hanging in the balance. Seems like if the snowpack is the wild card right now, we can't cheat the slightest bit on our terrain choices - backcountry travel practices are super important.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
New Snow
Trend
Same
Problem #1 Comments

It's still there. Not much else to say. Maybe terrain that is more exposed to wind effects is actually safer than sheltered slopes?

Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Decreasing Danger
Problem #2 Comments

Evidence of plenty of wind effect today, so I would imagine that there are pillows out there that could be triggered by a person.

Photo of slope that had these stress cracks in it. This is the second time looking at it, when it had more cracks than the first time.

Wind effects on 10k foot ridgelines.

P.S. Loved that you pointed out Considerable danger for the human factor stuff on today's report. Keep it up.

Today's Observed Danger Rating
Considerable
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Considerable