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Observation: Diving Board

Observation Date
12/27/2019
Observer Name
mark white
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Broads Fork » Diving Board
Location Name or Route
Diving Board, Broads Fork
Weather
Sky
Broken
Weather Comments
Clear and sunny up high, low laying clouds in the am rising up higher in the afternoon. No wind to speak of and cold.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
14"
New Snow Density
Low
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Snow Characteristics Comments
There seemed to be a storm total of 14 to 16 inches in the upper portions of Broads Fork, light density and none winded.
Comments
Went up Broads Fork today knowing that mid BBC received the most snow from the last storm. No one had ventured past Bonkers which had quite a few sluffs covering the run until the slope angle let off. There was also one soft slab that released in the same place as last time I was there on skiers left near the bottom and the debris ran out on the SE facing apron. We decided to head for the Diving Board which to my knowledge has not been skied this year. There were some long running sluffs on the skiers left side of the run but the debris was soft. There was also a new glide avalanche in the same place that I've reported two so far this year which was fairly large with blue ice in the debris, it also manage to snap some trees when it ran, I'm gonna start calling it Old Reliable because is runs every time it gets a load. We dug a pit at 9000ft E-NE facing and found facets at the bottom but nothing to alarming then a one finger slab all the way up until the new storm snow, in my opinion a fairly decent snow pack structure. Glide avalanches are the biggest hazard in this terrain, and I've change my mind on the theory that they only happen in the spring when things warm up, because I've seen a number of them this year and this time of year Broads Fork is an ice box and doesn't see much sun.
photos: glide avalanche on the Diving Board and a video of the aftermath, soft slab on Bonkers, snow pit and afternoon clouds moving up the drainage.
Video
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate