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Observation: Cardiff Bowl

Observation Date
1/25/2016
Observer Name
Stetson
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Cardiff Bowl
Location Name or Route
Cardiff Bowl
Weather
Sky
Scattered
Precipitation
Light Snowfall
Wind Direction
Northwest
Wind Speed
Calm
Weather Comments
Low clouds in and out all day with occasional flurries. Some greenhousing. Very large temperature swings between being in the sun and being in the clouds/precip.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
2'
New Snow Density
Medium
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Damp
Snow Characteristics Comments
First run was from Cardiff peak to the road. Upper bowl was blower but we noticed some slight sun effect closer to the highway at around 11:30. Did a few more laps in the upper bowl before checking out and bailing on Two Trees because of excessively damp snow.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Recent Avalanches
Heavy Snowfall
Cracking
Rapid Warming
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
Most red flags present today. SW facing in Cardiff Bowl had multiple natural slab releases. Everything east facing in Cardiff Fork ran naturally in the storm snow and some avalanches gouged deeper into older, harder layers. We noticed a rather large deep slab avalanche underneath the Ivory Flakes. LSB also avalanched across the entire face starting just below the cliffs of the black knob. Snowpack structure is fairly poor on most aspects. South facing snow pits in Grizzly Gulch yesterday revealed multiple crust/NSF layers that produced Q1 shears when pried out after ECTs. Not the standard south facing snowpack in the Wasatch.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
New Snow
Trend
Decreasing Danger
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Same
Problem #2 Comments
This has become a problem on most aspects over the last few weeks, not just relegated to the north side of the compass
Comments
Heads up conditions mixed with stellar snow out there today. While breaking trail up to pole line pass, our group observed several 20-50 foot wide storm slab avalanches on the SSW aspect in the bowl. We had thought they might have been from highway control work but when we ran into the some of the UDOT guys at the end of they day, they said that they hadn't shot that area. The view NW from Cardiff Peak revealed the impressive and (very) widespread natural cycle that Drew mentioned in this morning's advisory. EVERYTHING in sight between LSB and Mid Ivory had slid (photo 1) with the only exception being the Cardiac Ridge run from the saddle south of the Flakes (just enough room for about 4 sets of tracks). Many of the slides ran full track or close to it, entraining all the new snow on the way down. A few stepped down into deeper layers including a 2-3 foot deep, 100 foot wide crown underneath the south end of the Ivory Flakes area (Photo 2). We skied a few laps in Cardiff Bowl, setting off a few soft slab avalanches near the cave. These broke out wide but only in the new snow and seemed very sluggish, definitely on the manageable side of things. At the end of the day we walked over to 2 Trees hoping that the snow hadn't gotten too damp. Unfortunately it had so we headed back to the east for the home run.

Forecaster Comments: Thanks for the excellent observation of conditions and activity.

---Photo quality sucks, sorry.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Considerable
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate