Observation: Cardiff Fork

Observation Date
12/4/2018
Observer Name
Catino
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Cardiff Fork
Location Name or Route
Cardiff Fork
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Same
Problem #1 Comments
Old snow sitting on aspects from NW, N, and NE are still suspect. Even some of the other aspects are holding this old snow with a faceted layer, but it can be spotty - which in my mind means spooky as we trend out of the storm cycle. After skiing SE aspects in the morning, I ventured higher up the Cardiff drainage and found variability in the old snow mapping up to 10,000' on East facing slopes. Some areas had the old snow and others didn't. We kept our slope angle in check for the ski down.
Snow Profile
Aspect
Southeast
Elevation
9,300'
Comments
Pretty phenomenal skiing the past week, with classic Utah blower the past two days.
I've spent a few weeks digging around on north facing slopes and looking at the junk in the basement, and I thought taking a peak at some SE aspects would be nice today on my way to skiing other slopes. The SE aspect I saw had around 45cm of snow from the latest cycle, which was sitting on top of the Thanksgiving storm. Below the Thanksgiving storm was a suncrust and some decomposing fragments and facets underneath (which were getting damp). However, above the crust was a bit of grapuel that I was able to get some results with, though they weren't propagating.
Also, the beginnings of surface hoar were present. No surprise there with a clear night and -5F temperature in the morning.
Pictures below show the SE pit, E facing slide near High Pockets that ran at some point during the storm, and growing surface hoar.
Danger rating below for anything with old snow on the north side of the compass.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Considerable
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Considerable