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Observation Date
11/19/2016
Observer Name
Meisenheimer, Staples, Gordon
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Alta Periphery
Location Name or Route
Alta to Ballroom
Weather
Sky
Clear
Wind Direction
Southwest
Wind Speed
Strong
Weather Comments
Clear skies and moderate to strong southwest winds.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Faceted Loose
Wind Crust
Snow Characteristics Comments

Not a lot of snow to slide on. We walked up Alta ski area which has an open uphill policy at the moment. Before you start walking up the ski area remember to check in with the resort. They can close the resort to uphill traffic at any time. You can find this info on the UAC website or the resort's homepage - look for uphill policy.

We walked up the cat road to the base of Baldly on roughly 2-6" of snow. Most of the snow fell on bare dirt and rocks. The exception was north facing terrain that held 1-3" of old faceted snow from the previous storms and the new 6" on top of that. Skiing back down was almost harder than walking up; hit lots of rocks and I don't think I am heading out again until we get more snow. Corkscrew had blown chalky snow and provided my first turns of the year.

Red Flags
Red Flags
Wind Loading
Cracking
Red Flags Comments
There is just not enough snow out there. The upper elevatiions were getting sand blasted by the strong southwest winds. The wind was really taking a toll on the already adolecent snowpack. There are places with some old faceted snow on the ground, but it is very patchy and not uniform.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Normal Caution
Problem #1 Comments

Perhaps the biggest concern would be hitting rocks, trees, and stumps in the very shallow snowpack.

Comments

- Overview photo of upper Little Cottonwood Canyon taken on 11/18/16.

- Aerial footage of the overall snowpack in upper LCC 11/18/16.

Video

We did find areas of poor snowpack structure, but again, very limited and you had to sniff them out. Some of the starting zones had patches of smooth enough snow where I could see some avalanches happening once we get enough snow. However, these are small areas and will likely be very pockety in nature. Most of the starting zones were very rough and undulated with many bushes still sticking through.

Photo of the snow structure in the protected shady (north) aspects. You can clearly see the old faceted snow at the ground.

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