Ad
The National Forest Service Logo
icon-add Observation
Forecasts
Logan Ogden Salt Lake Provo Uintas Skyline Moab Abajos Weather Archives How to read the forecast
Observations & Avalanches
Submit Observation Observations Explorer All Observations Avalanches Fatalities Weather Place Names Map Archives
Education
Avalanche Class List UAC Class List Online Classes Resources and Tutorials Avalanche Awareness Develop Skills
Events
Store
About
Contact Who we are Core Values Staff Board of Directors Past Forecasters Sponsors Annual Reports Sign In
Blog
icon-add Observation
Donate / Join

Observation: Lake Martha

Observation Date
1/9/2017
Observer Name
chester
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Lake Martha
Location Name or Route
lake martha
Weather
Sky
Overcast
Precipitation
Light Snowfall
Wind Direction
Southwest
Wind Speed
Moderate
Weather Comments
was finding wind drifts in unusual spots from last night south winds. winds started sw and switched to nw. snow was being transported
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
6"
Snow Surface Conditions
Dense Loose
Damp
Snow Characteristics Comments
in the a.m. 6" of dense april like snow, around 1pm graupel. had 1" of grauple on my car. when i let at 3 pm. The snow is very very fast, very creamy. it does not take much angle to have fun!
Red Flags
Red Flags
Recent Avalanches
Heavy Snowfall
Wind Loading
Cracking
Red Flags Comments
on my tour i saw n side o compass and was between 9800 and 8900'. i didnt bother to list all the small avalances I saw today. dog lake chutes, and some steeps just south and just above lake martha. Anything below cliffs had a 1 in 3 chance or better of having slid naturally. The most interesting one was on lower mary chutes(brighton) by the old cabin. the crown started lower angle than expected, at about 28 degrees (getting the rug pulled out from under ya.) All slides I saw were small, bout boot deep. soft slabs. I thought about running on the flanks of these avalanches but decided to stick to my low angle plan, low angle was super fun today. avalanches seemed "manageable" today, might be less so tomorrow. (deeper, stouter slab thant might not break at your feet) . I only got 1 cracking, no collapsing. riding the snow, it didnt "seem" weak, but recent avalanches tell the story.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Trend
Same
Problem #1 Comments
Winds out of south last night. I was finding slabs in places I would not normally expect. could be harder to see tommorow with fresh layer.
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
New Snow
Trend
Same
Problem #2 Comments
I dug 1 pit, maby a bit silly today. Pit fractured and propogated 30 cm down on 2nd tap from wrist but not completly clean. there was another weak layer just below it (10 cm down, 40 cm total) I could not tell what either the weak layers were , there was a stouter layer between the two. This depth (30 cm)was very similar to all the small avalanches I saw today. Im gonna call it density change but look fwd to reading smarter peoples reports. Today andexpecially tommorow will be a bad day to treat out of bounds like resorts.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
High
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
High