Observation: Cardiff Peak

Observation Date
12/13/2018
Observer Name
Greg Gagne
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Cardiff Peak
Location Name or Route
Cardiff Peak
Red Flags
Red Flags
Recent Avalanches
Heavy Snowfall
Wind Loading
Poor Snowpack Structure
Comments
Quick tour into upper LCC/BCC ridgeline as this area got the most snow and wind from Wednesday's storm. Wanted to use good visibility today to also see what activity - if any - occurred on Wednesday.
Storm snow and wind slabs were unreactive to ski cuts, and they appear to have settled out. Lots of people skiing all sorts of lines on the south faces with no evidence of instability. Also good to see people avoiding steeper, northerly-facing lines today, and taking advantage of the stability and good riding conditions on the solar aspects. This gives the faceted snow down near the ground another day to adjust to Wednesday's storm and wind-drifted snow.
The only avalanche activity I found were two different slides, both on easterly aspects. These were both apparent natural avalanches. The first was adjacent to Cardiff Bowl and seemed to contain new snow only (video below).
Video
The second avalanche was on Cardiac Ridge. This was a on a slope that had avalanched on the Nov 30/Dec 1 storm, where you can see the outline of the old crown line.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Considerable
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate