Observation: Catherine's Pass

Observation Date
11/26/2019
Observer Name
Staples and Champion
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Catherine's Pass
Location Name or Route
Catherine's Pass to Pt Supreme
Red Flags
Red Flags
Cracking
Collapsing
Red Flags Comments
The cracking and collapsing we found was limited to large wind drifts (aka wind whales) that had a very large load of wind-blown snow.
Comments
South winds scoured many slopes and loaded many others. Photos below of wind effect heading up towards Catherines Pass and looking down towards Lake Catherine.
Next photo is the snowpack on a north aspect a 10,000 feet. Basically there are two main layers you can see in the photo - new snow on top of very weak, faceted snow.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Considerable
Coordinates