Observation Date
12/19/2015
Observer Name
Andy Rich
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Cardiff Fork » Georges Bowl
Location Name or Route
Georges
Weather
Wind Direction
West
Wind Speed
Moderate
Weather Comments
Mild temps, moderate winds from the west. Strong enough to pick up plates of zipper crust at ridge top and spray them lee. Crust was preventing too much transport, but some happening at ridge top regardless.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Rain-Rime Crust
Snow Characteristics Comments
Zipper crust on all aspects. Still quite skiable, but crusty. New snow from this week is consolidating, settlement cones evident around trees, mostly ~50cm of new snow at Georges. 25 cm of facets below.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Wind Loading
Cracking
Collapsing
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
Noticeable cracking in wind drifts at ridge line. Prominent collapsing in all untracked areas. Obvious faceting under new snow at all aspects and elevations.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Same
Problem #1 Comments
Hard to say how long we'll have to live with the "junk in the basement", but the facets are advanced and the interface with the new snow is weak. Would expect to see sporadic releases without any further load and significant instability with loading during the next few days/week.
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Trend
Increasing Danger
Problem #2 Comments
Ridge top wind loading could create harder slabs that allow you to get further down on them before they fracture. If there are any failures at the rime crust they'll almost certainly step down to the basal facets.
Video
First ECT got failure on isolation. Video'd second one and got ECTP15Q1. Planar sheer at the new snow/old snow interface 50 cm down. The old snow is basically 25 cm of advanced facets. HS 75cm. Poor structure, easy propagation. Pretty simple. Stick to low angle/protected skiing.
Hopefully video comes through- Georges, BCC, 9800', ENE, 75cm HS, ECTP15Q1.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Considerable
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Considerable
