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Observation: Mineral Fork

Observation Date
1/8/2016
Observer Name
Bruce Tremper
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Mineral Fork
Location Name or Route
Mineral Fork - Mid East Facing
Weather
Sky
Obscured
Precipitation
Light Snowfall
Weather Comments
Reasonably cold all day with very light snow falling. Absolutely no wind.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
10"
New Snow Density
Low
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Snow Characteristics Comments
This is the first good riding conditions I've experienced this season, but I've been out of town a lot this past month. There was almost a foot of very delightful, light powder that came down over the past couple days. You can still see and feel some of the old tracks underneath but you hardly notice them.
Red Flags
Red Flags Comments
No red flags. We skied low angled terrain that was east to northeast facing. There was a lot of old tracks from the previous week(s) and everything seemed quite stable. But we did not get into steeper or wind affected terrain. So this ob is probably unrepresentative of more dangerous terrain. (See snow profile comments below.) I'm guessing that people could find some loose, dry sluffs in steeper terrain and if the wind comes up, there is no lack of any snow available for transport and it will instantly create some dangerous wind slab conditions.
Snow Profile
Aspect
Northeast
Elevation
8,500'
Slope Angle
30°
Comments
I only dug one quick snowpit around 8,500' on a northeast facing slope and there was absolutely no facets at the bottom and no weak layers in the snowpack. Pretty dull stuff for an avalanche geek. At higher elevations I did not dig any other pits but numerous ski pole tests, I could feel the faceted snow buried at the base of the snowpack but there's now about 70 cm to 1 meter of total snowpack depth, so I'm guessing that it's gained a lot of strength since it was buried by the Christmas storm and others. I have been away and not following the snowpack very closely (I'm supposed to be retired, after all) so take all this with a lot of suspicion.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate