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Observation: Double Hill

Observation Date
3/9/2016
Observer Name
Mark Staples
Region
Uintas » Bear River Ranger District » Whitney Basin » Double Hill
Location Name or Route
Double Hill
Weather
Weather Comments
Skies cleared and it was a beautiful sunny day. Temps stayed cool and the snow didn't become wet.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Characteristics Comments

It was hard to tell how much new snow fell Tues night/Wed morning. Maybe only a few inches, but it felt much deeper on N aspects.

Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Trend
Decreasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments

Saw one wind slab that released naturally. It was maybe 75-100 feet wide and ran 200 vertical feet, We watched someone high mark then climb to the top of the adjacent slope. Nothing cracked or moved for him. Overall, wind transport seemed minor except in this one spot. Notice the wind transport of snow above the avalanche but not much along the ridge to the left of the slide. Perhaps this is why a rider was able to climb the adjacent slope without incident.

Comments

Recent snow has made riding conditions great on N aspects. I'm not sure how much of this snow fell overnight.

Video

Overall stability "seemed" pretty good but I didn't dig to the ground to check out snow at the ground. We avoided any slope that is more northerly and has a thin snowpack. Otherwise we climbed a few pretty steep hills and felt good about it. We also avoided any fresh wind drifts.

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