Observation Date
12/22/2014
Observer Name
Jake Hutchinson
Region
Salt Lake » Park City Ridgeline
Location Name or Route
PC Ridge
Weather
Sky
Obscured
Precipitation
Heavy Snowfall
Wind Direction
West
Wind Speed
Extreme
Weather Comments
Graupel and wind ruled the day...wind loading and scouring at all elevations traveled not just ridge tops
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
10"
New Snow Density
High
Snow Surface Conditions
Dense Loose
Snow Characteristics Comments
Dense graupel slab that made skiing on low angle quite fast and fun
Red Flags
Red Flags
Recent Avalanches
Heavy Snowfall
Wind Loading
Cracking
Collapsing
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
We almost had it all today. Lots of collapsing at 9000 on a 25 degree ESE slope. I was solo so I didn't venture too near anyting steep or consequential. The snow pack showed all five lemons inf both my snow pits. Largre grains over fine grains over larger grains, thin weak layers and interfaces, persistent grains in multiple locations, hand hardness changes - slabs over weak layers, and less than 1 Meter from the surface. The NSF and basal facets seem to be reactive in this area. Was surprisd that snowpack depth was similar to Upper Silver Fork depths
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
New Snow
Trend
Same
Problem #1 Comments
Pick your poison. NSF from before the most recent storm cycle, and the basal facet layers both showed Easy Propagation, low/mod strength and poor structure. I won't be jumping into anything steep for awhile
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Increasing Danger
Problem #2 Comments
Seemed to be much better bonded today but still triggered a few small wind slabs on tiny test slopes
Comments
Dug two test plus pits at the same elevation about 500 yards apart on two slightly different aspects. Looking for two things - how well new snow was bonding and have the facet layers become reactive again with the new load? Both of these areas have seen some skier traffic through Dec so I thought they would be fairly representative of the snow on the PC Ridge. Apologize for the poor audio quality, not sure what happened when I rendered it.
Video
Graupel from the surface and excellent high speed meadow skipping in the fresh graupel.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
High
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
High
