Observation: Broads Fork/Mill B

Observation Date
1/26/2019
Observer Name
mark white
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Broads Fork/Mill B
Location Name or Route
Broads Fork, Diving Board, Mill B, Ennie, Mennie
Weather
Sky
Clear
Wind Direction
Northwest
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
Warm in the sun, just right in the shade, the wind was moving snow up on the Twins but it was fairly light down in the drainages.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Dense Loose
Wind Crust
Damp
Snow Characteristics Comments
Dense loose is still the best description of most of the snow we skied on the Diving Board with some wind skin mixed in. Skiing into the more protected E facing Mill B was less winded and more powdery. South was getting damp and the rocks were shedding snow.
Comments
Went up Broads Fork to the Diving Board, I haven’t been there for a couple weeks and wanted to see what happened after the last two storms. There were multiple old avalanches in the drainage, a couple on the rock slabs on the S side of Bonkers, one appeared to be a glide that pulled out after the storms, there was also crowns on the high Blue Ice and a avalanche on the S side of the Diving Board. The Diving Board had large chunks of avalanche debris last time I was there but the face was fairly smooth today. You could still feel the old bed surface of the avalanche from a few weeks ago if you probed with your pole but not while skiing. The Diving Boards a funny place, you can feel really good about the slope your walking up and skiing but the real danger is way over your head, and it’s prudent to keep an eye on wind and heating when you messing around on the slopes below. We exited out Ennie, Mennie into Mill B and it seemed as if the whole E-NE facing ridge line had avalanched in the last storm. No real instabilities were noted today except for some wet activity in the rock slabs.
photos: the glide that released after the storm, crowns and debris on the Diving Board and a shot of how we celebrated Peter Ingles surviving a avalanche in the Meadow Chutes a year ago today
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate