Observation Date
12/2/2018
Observer Name
Mark and Amy Staples
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Scotts Peak
Location Name or Route
West aspect Scott’s Hill
Comments
Out for a quick ski. We know what the snowpack looks like on the North half of the compass - it’s bad. I wanted to take a look at West while we were out. Facets seemed similar to East aspects I saw at the end of last week.
There was no collapsing but there has been a ton of traffic in this area. Did an Extended Column Test (ECT). It fractured (propagated) across the whole column on 21 taps, ECTP21, in two places simultaneously.
One fracture occurred on the obvious facets at the ground (no surprise). The other fractures on a layer of graupel that was on the snow surface on Tues (Nov 28). I didn’t have a loupe with me but the graupel seemed a touch faceted but I couldn’t tell for sure.
Take home point: I wouldn’t touch West facing avalanche terrain for now.
Photo below shows the snowpit. Two red lines show approximately where the ECT fractured.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
None
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
None
Coordinates