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Observation: Wilson Peak

Observation Date
1/27/2017
Observer Name
T Diegel
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Wilson Peak
Location Name or Route
Wilson Peak south and north
Weather
Sky
Clear
Wind Direction
Northwest
Wind Speed
Moderate
Weather Comments
Wind picked up out of the NW over the course of the day. Plenty of downy snow on the northerly aspects to blow over and load up the south and east aspects. See pics of wind over Gobbies. Not that much deposited today, but if the winds carry on throughout the night it could create some isolated windslabs?
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
12"
New Snow Density
Medium
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Snow Characteristics Comments

Overall it seemed like there was plenty of settling that happened overnight; first time I've seen little tents on scrubs for a while and the trailbreaking was noticeably shallower/easier than it's been over the last few days. South facing got a little heavy-ish around mid-day, so we switched around to north facing since our next-best south facing options involved skin track exposure. north facing was soft and perfect, of course, and no cakiness or slab development where we were. Upon our s. facing exit there was a slight zipper crust on s. facing slopes that had gone into "the shade" but it was no problem to ski. While the sun felt warm and heavied up the snow, there were no rollerballs, but the copious new snow with multiple layers that might be excited by the sun and ease of transitioning to north facing was impetus for us moving northerly.

Red Flags
Red Flags
Heavy Snowfall
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
New Snow
Trend
Decreasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments

the northerly shots we skied were steep (enough), exposed, and committing, and it was hard to do any kind of stability test besides some (good) ski cuts - which we did - and some hard skiing, which we also did.

Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Same
Problem #2 Comments

I did an ECT at about 8+k feet on south facing to see if that hoar layer existed there and got nothing; only a good stiff rain crust now a ways down. I did a hand pit on the northerly aspects also around 8+k feet down in a sheltered area out of curiosity and got nice clean easy shears about 14-16" down and another layer 6" below that. But traversed a nice 35 degree test slope in that zone and got no action there.

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