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Observation Date
4/16/2016
Observer Name
Diegel/Diegel/Gregerson
Region
Salt Lake » Mineral Fork » Lower Mineral
Location Name or Route
Cardiff to Mineral via Dark Ebony
Weather
Sky
Overcast
Weather Comments
Clear sky in am caused rapid heating, thick clouds by mid-afternoon limited west facing heating
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Damp
Snow Characteristics Comments

Mix of very wet east facing, dust on crust N facing, deeper dense wet but highly skiable loose snow on NE through NW

Red Flags
Red Flags
Recent Avalanches
Rapid Warming
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
Multiple NE facing slopes avalanched a day or 2 ago, leaving very impressive debris piles. Major debris piles at the bottom of God's Lawnmower, GB No, and Moonlight, multiple smaller piles scattered around E facing Mineral Fk
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Wet Snow
Trend
Increasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments

Several hasty hand pits showed easy failure at or within 5 cm of the stout M-F crust 35 cm deep in high-density snow on NE facing slope we considered skiing in Cardiff at about 10,000 ft. We chose to keep our slope angle down on that aspect after seeing results. Skied a 40 deg NW facing slope at the same elevation - snow seemed much more secure. Didn't get a chance to look at any starting zones but the size of the debris piles and blocks made me suspect some may have been stepping down through the M-F crust. I suspect a full day of direct sun will launch a lot of activity.

Comments

Several hasty hand pits showed easy failure at or within 5 cm of the stout M-F crust 35 cm deep in high-density snow on NE facing slope we considered skiing in Cardiff at about 10,000 ft. We chose to keep our slope angle down on that aspect after seeing results. Skied a 40 deg NW facing slope at the same elevation - snow seemed much more secure. Didn't get a chance to look at any starting zones but the size of the debris piles and blocks made me suspect some may have been stepping down through the M-F crust. I suspect a full day of direct sun will launch a lot of activity.

Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Considerable