Bill Hunt

Ogden » Snowbasin Backcountry

Snowbasin backcountry

I did a brief reconnaissance in the north-facing zone that was so good up until yesterday. There was a widespread rollerball cycle even up to 9400 feet on northfacing slopes the past couple of afternoons. While there is a tough crust now, it was not completely unmanageable; a half inch crust over soft 4 finger snow. Can sublimation work its magic on this crust over a few nights? Not sure..

A trace of graupel was present as well. Hopefully a sign of more to come. I suppose chasing corn would make more sense now than north aspects; or possibly steeper east and west lines, after just the right amount of sun, but not too much sun. The rollerballing adds another difficult element to negotiate; but it should provide a fairly rough surface for bonding of any new snow we may get. Also, a reminder there is no snow on SE, S, SW slopes below 7000', so gray should be used on the forecast rose.

Low

Low