UDOT PLANNED AVALANCHE CLOSURES!!

Observation: Moab

Observation Date
1/4/2019
Observer Name
Dave Garcia
Region
Moab
Location Name or Route
Laurel Highway to Gold Basin
Weather
Sky
Clear
Wind Direction
Southwest
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
Beautiful, warm, blue sky day with light winds.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Dense Loose
Wind Crust
Snow Characteristics Comments
A mixed bag of surface conditions out there right now. Shady slopes still have nice powder. With the warm temperatures sunny slopes down low are turning to heavy slop. Lots of wind crust/wind slab in the high alpine.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Wind Loading
Cracking
Collapsing
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
Biggest red flag today was wind slab. I experienced cracking and collapsing while traveling across wind slabs in upper elevation terrain. More on that below.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Trend
Same
Problem #1 Comments
The NE wind event that started the night of 12/31 and continued to blow through 1/2 did quite a number on the upper elevation ridge lines. I found wind drifted snow across NW, W, SW, and S facing slopes. Slabs ranged from 3cm to 10cm thick. At and just below the ridge line, slabs were very stiff (pencil +) and would support the weight of a skier. The NE winds were strong enough to transport snow a good ways down slope. Mid slope, slabs were softer and more reactive to the weight of a skier. My planned descent was Showoff, a steep SW facing run. The start of Showoff is about 200 - 300 feet below the peak. The top third (and possibly more) of the run was completely wind loaded. I put two slope cuts in, and on the second cut had a good collapse with shooting cracks. At that point I bailed and headed for the trees between Showoff and the Funnel. While climbing up that route across a mix of dense powder and wind slabs I experienced two whumpfs. I had a similar experience yesterday on a West facing slope that had recent wind deposits. Even though these wind slabs were deposited a couple days ago they are still reacting to the weight of a skier and should be avoided for the time being.
First photo is wind scoured North facing terrain looking into Horse Creek. Second photo is the Upper Funnel completely wind loaded.
A small, wet loose avalanche on a west facing slope. It's been really warm up there the past couple days.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate