Observation Date
2/24/2014
Observer Name
Kobernik
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Brighton Perimeter
Location Name or Route
Alta-Catherines-Brighton-10420-Mill F-Solitude-Alta
Weather
Sky
Broken
Weather Comments
Increasing clouds as the day went on. Fairly warm. Winds light and variable.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Dense Loose
Wind Crust
Melt-Freeze Crust
Damp
Snow Characteristics Comments

Some decent turning in sheltered north facing terrain above 9000'. Snow was damp on all aspects below 9000'. Sticky in places as well at those lower elevations. South facing slopes started to heat up early but then froze back up with melt freeze crusts present at around 2pm along the mid and upper elevations.

Red Flags
Red Flags
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
My last field day was on the Manti Skyline on Friday where the snowpack is still quite thin and remotely triggered avalanches were still occurring. Things are quite different around the Little Cottonwood periphery where the snowpack is deep. Using an inverted ski pole for probing, the old weak snow was hard to distinguish around the Catherines area. Once I was over on 10420 where the pack is thinner and a bit weaker, I was able to easily Identify the old weak snow with an inverted ski pole. The simple snow profile diagram was what I was feeling.
Snow Profile
Aspect
North
Elevation
9,600'
Slope Angle
35°
Comments

Things seem fairly quiet right now. If you monkey around enough in very steep shallow locations you might still find an avalanche to break into old snow. Otherwise, it's probably dormant until the next significant load. Deep locations may not become reactive again unless a very big load is added or until a spring warm up.

That said, I feel uneasy about the structure to a certain extent still. The old faceted snow is still fairly loose in the thinner snowpack locations. There is a decent "bridge" over the weak snow now which is from the February storms. The problem is can you trust the bridge not to break? Is it strong enough in all areas or might you find the "sweet spot" and break the bridge. I'll feel more comfortable when the old snow increases in hand hardness a bit more and there is more holding up the bridge.

Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate
Coordinates