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Observation: Wolverine Cirque

Observation Date
2/26/2017
Observer Name
Redd
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Wolverine Cirque
Location Name or Route
Wolverine Cirque
Weather
Sky
Broken
Wind Direction
South
Wind Speed
Moderate
Weather Comments
Cold all day, in the single digits. Calm and bluebird in the morning, with winds really picking up through the afternoon. They were 40 mph plus by 4 pm on the ridge. Lots and lots of snow transport took place onto the leeward North slopes.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Density
Medium
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Snow Characteristics Comments
Settled powder in the protected cirque with slow and dense sluffs, even in the steeper chutes. Lots of cracking on the wind crusted snow on the ridge. By late afternoon the wind had loaded a 2 to 6 inch layer of snow into the North facing chutes, which naturally triggered next to the boot pack up Granny's around 4pm.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Recent Avalanches
Wind Loading
Cracking
Red Flags Comments
Lots of evidence of earlier slides, but the snowpack seemed to be very healthy in the morning. The biggest of lines were dropped, with sluff management being the only notable concern in the morning. The wind loading on the North facing aspects became substantial by the later afternoon, and forced our retreat.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Cornice
Trend
Increasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments
Holy monster cornices batman! It stayed nice and cold all day, and all the cornices stayed in place. They won't hang up there forever though. I imagine that the next warm day we see will wake these things up.
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Trend
Increasing Danger
Problem #2 Comments
High levels of wind transport to Northerly aspects had built and shed one small natural avy in Granny Chute by 4pm. Surely things just got even touchier through the night. With that and the new snow falling on top, the danger will rise.
Comments
It was a gorgeous day to check off some bucket list items...
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Considerable