Ad
The National Forest Service Logo
icon-add Observation
Forecasts
Logan Ogden Salt Lake Provo Uintas Skyline Moab Abajos Weather Archives How to read the forecast
Observations & Avalanches
Submit Observation Observations Explorer All Observations Avalanches Fatalities Weather Place Names Map Archives
Education
Avalanche Class List UAC Class List Online Classes Resources and Tutorials Avalanche Awareness Develop Skills
Events
Store
About
Contact Who we are Core Values Staff Board of Directors Past Forecasters Sponsors Annual Reports Sign In
Blog
icon-add Observation
Donate / Join

Observation: Georges Bowl

Observation Date
1/9/2016
Observer Name
Bruce Tremper
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Cardiff Fork » Georges Bowl
Location Name or Route
George's Bowl - Cardiff Fork
Weather
Weather Comments
All of the above--sunny, cloudy, foggy, snow--just wait 5 minutes. Low level moisture came and went and instantly changed the weather as it did so throughout the day.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
8"
New Snow Density
Low
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Snow Characteristics Comments

Once again, a great day to be out with about 8 inches or more of new snow over the past few days. Cool temperatures kept the snow nice but the short periods of sun today put a sun crust on south facing slopes. Yes, you can still see the old tracks but there's enough new snow to fly right through them.

Lots of people getting after it today with most of the trail heads packed with cars. We saw several parties in the George's Bowl area and off Mid Ivory and High Ivory but there's plenty of room for others.

Red Flags
Red Flags Comments
No red flags. Everything seemed pretty stable with lots of old and new tracks on most slopes. Dug a few quick pits (see below).
Snow Profile
Aspect
Northeast
Elevation
9,400'
Slope Angle
30°
Comments

I dug several quick arm pits and one more detailed snowpit to the ground at 9,400' on a northeast facing test slope. Sorry, I don't have time to draft up a profile right now but it was about 1.5 meters total depth with about 30 cm of old, depth hoar at the bottom that was bonding up fairly well. The slab above it was very cohesive and bridging well with no weak layers. I could not get any failures on a compression test, even on the depth hoar near the ground. With lots of pole probing everywhere, it seemed like that pit was fairly representative of the area.

I'm guessing that the deeper snowpack areas are healing up fairly well but there seems to be a number of slopes that slid during the Christmas storm that remain shallow and weak, such as the steep slopes at the top of George's Bowl, which we avoided today.

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