UDOT PLANNED AVALANCHE CLOSURES!!

Observation: Cardiff/Mineral

Observation Date
2/17/2019
Observer Name
mark white
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Cardiff/Mineral
Location Name or Route
Room of Doom, Mineral Fork
Weather
Sky
Broken
Precipitation
Light Snowfall
Wind Direction
Southwest
Wind Speed
Moderate
Weather Comments
Partly cloudy with breaks of sun in the AM overcast and lightly snowing in the PM. Light winds from the SW in the morning seems like it switched to SE in the afternoon with increasing speeds.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Snow Characteristics Comments
Powder on all aspects in the morning, S facing might have got a bit damp before the sun disappeared in the afternoon.
Comments
Travel was Alta Guard, N facing Keyhole into Cardiff, NE facing Hansens, and entry into the Room of Doom from Cardiac Ridge. Sluffing of the steeper slopes was less than yesterday due to settlement, but we still initiated slow running sluffs in the Keyhole and the Room of Doom. I was kinda surprised at the difference in new snow amounts between Cardiff which had well over a foot as apposed to Mineral which had a total of around 8” in the Room of Doom and less down lower. No activity was noted except for the minor sluffing, but visibility was not good when we entered Mineral from Cardiac Ridge, and the wind was beginning to load the NW facing chutes at the top. Flat light kept us from seeing previous slides but it seemed like every path in the upper drainage ran at some point during the storm, were smacking into debris on Mongo No and Berrietto.
photos: minor sluffing in the Keyhole, and skiing by Brazil in the Room of Doom
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate