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Observation: Moab

Observation Date
3/31/2018
Observer Name
Kennard, Grote, Ament
Region
Moab
Location Name or Route
The Darkside and Horse Creek
Weather
Sky
Few
Wind Direction
West
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
Spring ski season has arrived to the desert! Temps were above freezing for most of the day with a mostly sunny sky and mild winds. The sparse cloud cover and light breeze helped keep snow firm for a while as we boondoggled into the Horse Creek Basin from the Laurel Highway.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Dense Loose
Wind Crust
Melt-Freeze Crust
Damp
Snow Characteristics Comments

We found the full range of snow conditions on our tour today. Lower elevation slopes softened rapidly as the sun hit them this morning, but we were able to find some soft turns in some steep north facing trees off the Laurel Highway. Pole probes revealed the lingering facets at the base of our snow pack, but things at mid elevation seem to have bridged over well. We had 2" ski penetration at the top of our run with nice creamy turns all the way down. Once in Horse Creek we headed towards the southwest bowl of Mellenthin in search of some corn. We stopped short of our destination due to a large scree field that looked like it never go enough coverage over the winter to bury the rocks. We back tracked to a steep south west facing ribbon of snow that we had crossed earlier and found firm conditions at the top and corn on the bottom half. On our ski out of the drainage we found a fair amount of mash potato snow, so plan to get up early to catch the corn cycle before it turns to mush. The North faces appeared to have decent coverage, so as long as the dust stays down we might have some good spring turns in April.

Red Flags
Red Flags
Rapid Warming
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
The snow was quite mushy on the way out. We didn't observe any signs of instability from rapid warming, but its that time of year when start thinking about wet slides as things warm up. Their are still some facets at ground level on north facing slopes so stay heads up on steep north facing terrain
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Decreasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments

Things are firming up in the mountains but we still have a weak layer at the bottom of our snow pack. Although I would consider the overall avy danger to be low their are still pockets lurking in steep north facing terrain at upper elevations that could provide the trigger point for a slab to cut loose down to the bed surface. Triggering one of these could provide a bumpy ride and some potential unwanted air time if you are skiing above a cliff or rock outcropping.

Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
Normal Caution
Trend
Same
Problem #2 Comments

although things are stabilizing in the mountains with the warm temps it is still important to be conscious of day time warming and the associated hazards such as cornice drops and wet slides

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