Observation Date
4/18/2018
Observer Name
chester
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Cardiff/Mineral
Location Name or Route
cardiff fork, mineral fork
Weather
Sky
Clear
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
cold in am, warmed up, some high clouds but basically clear. some wind but not enough to transport. Great day but wish it was colder, been seeing wierd animals that i dont think of seeing in the mountains in winter, saw marmot last week @ 10,600', saw couple of black cranes today in upper cardiff.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
6"
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Wind Crust
Melt-Freeze Crust
Damp
Snow Characteristics Comments
3" lower, 7" higher. rode fast till warmed. snow was slightly inverted, top 2 " heavier. bottom feeding. everything cooked (except maby the deep dark high places)
some wind damage but not widespread, upper ridge lines (mineral had more wind damage)
the dust crust has slide for life conditions exist west facing where wind was and other spots. Just because it looks like good snow, doesn't mean that you are on good footing. the snow on top of the dust/dirt crust is easily removed, creating a situation where it looks good but might not b, edging is NOT assured in many areas.
death cookies from last weeks wet cycle are in many locations.
2 rain events have killed snow lower. paved road up cardiff is dry. road down mineral once past aspens is not skiable or skinable/mostly rocks n mud.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Cracking
Rapid Warming
Red Flags Comments
cracking...there are 2 weaknesses I could get cracking if i stepped above the skinner. The cracking was on a density change/inversion 2" from top as well as the new snow old snow(dust crust) interface. the density inversion (weaker of the 2) seemed to sort itself out by 1pm. the new snow old snow is bonded but not well/still there which made for tricky skinning conditions on sidehills. There also were some small windslabs on ridges that would crack.
avalanche wise main one i saw was cardiac ridge run. rest were point slabs, storm slides, all east facing, none propigating far, small and slow.
I saw one snowboarder triggered slide on a ski cut on the east shoulder of cartiac bowl (into little superior ) see pic
did not propogate past cut.
cardiac ridge run slid natural, started out 50' then got 100' wide 6" deep, consistent crown depth. . ran 700' guessing natural during storm (wind loading) looked slow moving.(debris pile very spread out vertically,)
rapid warming, got 2 very small slow moving wet slide to go at the bottom of our mellow run on exit. snowlerballs, sloppy, suction cupping board.
got some slow moving dry sluffs to go on north facing 10,000.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Wet Snow
Problem #1 Comments
I suspect for tomorrow that the main issue is wet, small slides 7" deep running on the dusty crust. any water hits the dusty crust layer will pool and dissolve the old snow/new snow bonds.
Comments
1st photo, snowboarder triggered ski cut,/sluff cardiac bowl east shoulder
2nd photo, skier triggered sluff mid ivory
both ran on old snow/dust crust
3rd photo not sure what this white stuff (snow) was on tree , top ridge by east fork, looks like rime but it isn't (not icy, not on bark) ( wind was blowing 80 mph, may be from super strong winds?)
Today's Observed Danger Rating
None
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
None
