Observation Date
4/18/2018
Observer Name
mark white
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Mineral Fork » Room of Doom
Location Name or Route
Room of Doom, Mineral Fork
Weather
Sky
Few
Wind Direction
Northwest
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
Clear and cold in the AM, warming temperatures and high clouds in the PM
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
12"
New Snow Density
Low
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Melt-Freeze Crust
Damp
Snow Characteristics Comments

I was seeing around 10 to 12 inches of light density snow on Cardiac Ridge and in the Room of Doom in upper Mineral Fork. The NW facing into the Room was scoured down to the old icy bed surface which made the entry a bit spicy and the top part of the chutes had wind slabs that would crack but not move once down on the main slopes the wind slabs were not present. Below 8700ft all aspect were damp on our exit at 1:30pm.

Comments

Finally made it into the Room of Doom, better late than never. On the way there we traveled up Cardiac Ridge and I noted one shallow avalanche from yesterday it was about 25 feet wide, ran about 900ft and took out the new snow from yesterday. Today sluffs were not running very far even in steeper terrain and the new snow seemed well behaved. The bottom was felt in N facing Cardifff and on the Ridge, you could also feel it in the Room but the underlying snow was softer. Skiing down No Mongo was a slolom cours through frozen wet avalanche debris, and snow amounts dropped rapidly with elevation loss, basically running out of snow about a mile and a half from the trail head. We did not note any wet activity but we were done skiing by 1:30pm, I would think high N would still be dry in the AM but all other aspects will be crusted.

Photos: shallow avalanche from yesterday, high and dry N in the Room of Doom

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