Observation: Mt Aire

Observation Date
1/19/2020
Observer Name
Donovan
Region
Salt Lake » Parleys Canyon » Mt Aire
Location Name or Route
Mt Aire
Red Flags
Red Flags
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
Pit was dug on a sheltered N facing slope at ~7400'. Total depth is 100cm with moderately weak and sugary snow at the bottom 30cm. ECTN 22. There is also a graupel layer at about 20cm but it is un-reactive with only soft settled powder sitting on top.
Comments
Snow pack today was benign and skied well on aspects that were less affected by wind or had not been hit directly by yesterday’s afternoon sun. Lots of wind board along the higher ridges, but cornices are small to non-existent and I did not observe any areas, even at the top, that looked to be wind loaded. Lots of skier traffic.
Slopes facing mostly East --> North East are substantially shallower than those facing due North. Continual probing as I worked my way towards the peak indicated that the bottom half of the snowpack has remained weak on these aspects as well. It's is not an area that I visit very often for this reason, but without any substantial loading on top it does not seem to be a problem.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate
Coordinates