Observation: Stansbury Range

Observation Date
2/4/2019
Observer Name
John Mletschnig
Region
Salt Lake » Stansbury Range
Location Name or Route
Bear Fork, Stansbury Mountains
Red Flags
Red Flags
Wind Loading
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Trend
Increasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments
Winds were cranking out of the south. Not much new snow but what did fall was going sideways.
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Same
Problem #2 Comments
Basal facets are likely hard to initiate but are lingering. Shallow areas resultant from avalanches early season are most suspect. There are also a couple faceted layers closer to the surface which could be a player with more load.
Snow Profile
Aspect
North
Elevation
9,300'
Slope Angle
29°
Comments
We didn't cover a huge amount of ground but the one area we skinned up had evidence of a large avalanche from a couple weeks or more ago. We were skiing on a broad ridge and realized much of the way up it that the slope above had actually slid down onto te ridge and washed over both sides of it. The slide was a bit hard to make out with the weather but it was likely a D3. HS varied from 135-160 on protected slopes above 8k. On the solar aspects grass is showing through.
Basal facets at around 8k on NE.
West aspect with 9200' peak elevation.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Considerable