Planned Website Outage: The UAC website will be down for maintenance on June 17 from 2:00 - 7:00 PM MT.
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: Gobblers

Observation Date
1/18/2018
Observer Name
Josh Beckner
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Mill Creek Canyon » Mill A » Butler Fork » Gobblers
Location Name or Route
Gobblers Knob via Wilson Pk.
Weather
Sky
Broken
Wind Direction
Southwest
Wind Speed
Moderate
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Faceted Loose
Wind Crust
Melt-Freeze Crust
Damp
Snow Characteristics Comments
On the SE aspect of Wilson Peak, the surface was getting pretty damp but the crust remained supportable while we were on it (we got off it around 1130.) We dug a pit on the NW aspect of Wilson, at 9,800', HS 85cm, CT14 RP down 15cm on rounds and defragmented particles; CT15 PC down 40cm on 4 to 5mm NSF. We didn't get propagation on our ECT. These results aren't all that alarming but playing with a poor structure and weakness (facets) like this feels like playing with fire, especially with the spacial variability that's out there right now. Up higher, at 10,100' SE facing, we found HS 70cm with rounding facets at the base and got a Hard Hand Shear.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
From what we observed, most of the surface hoar has melted or been blown down above 8.5k except for a few patches in the trees. Near surface facets were between 3 and 10cm deep on most of the shady aspects we traveled on above 9k. We were surprised that we didn't see any signs of avalanche activity in this area, though it seems there's been very little traffic out there over the past week or so (likely due to the nasty between 8 to 7k feet). Maybe some slopes are still waiting for a trigger.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Same
Problem #1 Comments
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate