Observation: Timpanogos

Observation Date
4/9/2018
Observer Name
M Staples, M White, J Woodruff
Location Name or Route
UFO Bowls
Weather
Sky
Scattered
Weather Comments
Cool air temps with a few clouds. Plenty of sunshine to soften slopes with a southerly aspect.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Melt-Freeze Crust
Snow Characteristics Comments

We were on mostly easterly terrain. NE stayed icy. E and SE softened nicely in early afternoon. This area only had a “skiff” of new snow on top of the ice crust.

This icy surface and cool air temps limited wet loose activity.

Comments

The only activity we saw was

  1. One recent deep, slab avalanche that occurred during this weekend’s rain in the Cascade Cirque on Timp on a N/NE aspect.
  2. One very small wet loose slide in one of the other UFO bowls on a E aspect
  3. One larger wet loose slide in the apron under the Grunge couloir.

Overall there wasn’t much recent activity other than the slides from the week before Easter.

8800 feet, E aspect - snowpack was roughly 2-2.5 ft deep. Rain this weekend had soaked it to the ground. The upper 5” or so was solidly frozen

10,000 feet, E aspect - 3 to 4 feet deep. The top 10” had been soaked and was s very hard crust. The rest of the snowpack had warmed and was barely damp. You could still easily find depth hoar in the bottom foot. ECTP 26 on that old depth hoar. CTV on it as well. It was bushy in the old depth hoar which perhaps skewed the CT tests to fail so easily.

With the very hard crust on top, it would have been hard to trigger any slide. Seeing the old depth hoar, made us think carefully about what we skied. For safer skiing and softer snow, we skied the skier’s left side with a SE aspect which likely remained dry early season and would not harbor the old depth hoar.

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