Observation: Tanners Gulch

Observation Date
3/1/2020
Observer Name
mark white
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Tanners Gulch
Location Name or Route
Tanners Gulch
Weather
Sky
Obscured
Precipitation
Light Snowfall
Wind Direction
West
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
Light snowfall, with obscured skies and low lying clouds, not much wind to speak of.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
4"
New Snow Density
Low
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Snow Characteristics Comments
4 to 5 inches of light density new snow by the time we left at 3:30pm.
Comments
Went back to Tanners Gulch for two reasons, first the colder temperatures locked up the rock and ice fall I was experiencing on Friday, second was the wet slide threat was non existent and there wasn't enough new snow or wind yet to create a concern of dry avalanches coming down from the upper bowl but there was allot of spindrift avalanches coming off the granite walls but they just didn't have enough volume to be a major concern. The new snow seemed to bond fairly well to the not completely frozen bed surface, except on the steep sidewalls where it was constantly sluffing. That being said I wouldn't want to be in that confined walled in space if the snow amounts were higher or if the wind was drifting snow up high. Some larger spindrift avalanches told us it was time to leave.
photos: spindrift avalanche, sluffing off the steep sidewalls and a video of a spindrift avalanche
Video
I would be wary of any south, steep facing slopes that heat up tomorrow, there's a slick bed surface and 5 inches of snow can gain a lot of mass and energy when it gets going in confined spaces
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate