Observation Date
2/23/2016
Observer Name
Bruce Tremper
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Silver Fork
Location Name or Route
Silver Fork from Alta
Weather
Sky
Clear
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
One of those magical days...clear, cold, calm with a little fresh snow.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
4"
New Snow Density
Low
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Snow Characteristics Comments
It's amazing what a little bit of new snow can do for the turning and riding conditions. There was only about 4 inches of low density powder but it really helped to smooth out the many old tracks and make the pre-existing sun crusts less noisy and chattery. It was one of those days when all aspects and elevations were good. Yes, you could feel the old tracks underneath and the ice crusts were still rock hard and challenging to traverse but with a few inches of new snow it really helped the riding conditions. The sun exposed aspects had softened and become moist by afternoon but still quite delightful. The northerlly facing slopes remained cold and dry all day because of the cold temperatures and clear skies. There was a little surface hoar that had grown on top of everything overnight. Since it's a week day, not nearly as many people tracking everything up as I saw on Sunday. There's still plenty left.
Red Flags
Red Flags Comments
No red flags. Low danger. Even the southerly aspects that warmed up in the sun were fairly well behaved with a little bit of rollerballs and sluffing in steep, icy terrain, but everythign was very stable. We saw no wind drifting of the newest snow.
Snow Profile
Aspect
North
Elevation
9,600'
Slope Angle
30°
Comments
I only dug the snowpit about 60 cm deep because the deep snowpack is quite stable from my previous pits. There was no shears to speak of but it did mush down, or perhaps, a subtle collapsing in the graupel from a couple storms ago that sat on a stout rime/rain crust. But it was not reactive at all.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Low
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Low
