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Observation: Moffit Peak

Observation Date
1/12/2016
Observer Name
Ted Scroggin
Region
Uintas » Bear River Ranger District » Bear River West Fork » Moffit Peak SE Face
Location Name or Route
Moffit Peak
Weather
Sky
Few
Wind Direction
West
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
Inverted temperatures this morning with cold single digits in Evanston, but teens at the trailhead. High thin clouds moved in and out throughout the day and light west winds.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Dense Loose
Faceted Loose
Wind Crust
Snow Characteristics Comments
Mostly good supportable riding and turning conditions, with the surface snow becoming weak. A nice storm would help to cover over the hard old tracks and really help to fill in areas.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
Not really much in the way of red flags, the snow pack still has some faceted weak snow near the ground, but I observed mostly stable conditions. Still an isolated chance a person could find the weak spot in one of the shallow thinner terrain areas.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Trend
Decreasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments
I was finding the wind slabs that were mainly on the south and southeast facing slopes to be pretty relaxed. The few places I stomped on the slab would break at your skis and sled, but did not really want to move much.
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Decreasing Danger
Problem #2 Comments
I have not heard of or seen any slides breaking into old weak snow in a little while. I'm sure given the amount of terrain out in the Uintas, there are some isolated places a person could find a weak shallow spot on a slope and trigger a slide.
Comments
I spent part of the afternoon on the east side of Moffit Peak and the only thing of note were these shallow wind slabs that started up high off the ridge line and entrained weak faceted surface snow. Not a huge amount of snow with these , but enough to knock a rider off their sled in these narrow gully features.
Many of the avalanche staring zones are still thin after being cleaned-out by the big holiday avalanche cycle.
I guess you always have to take a photo from the top of the Peak-looking southeast.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate