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Observation: Superior

Observation Date
11/19/2020
Observer Name
mark white
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Superior
Location Name or Route
Superior, Cardiac Bowl
Weather
Sky
Overcast
Wind Direction
Northwest
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
Grey and kinda gloomy, with overcast skies, cooler temperatures, and the cloud deck dropping just below the summit of Superior.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Dense Loose
Wind Crust
Melt-Freeze Crust
Snow Characteristics Comments
Windboard and sastrugi on the N end of the compass with a few soft turns thrown in for good measure, frozen solid on the S facing all day making for a teeth rattling loud exit.
Comments
Headed up to the top of Superior from the Alta guard station, with a run on LSB NE facing on the way. The snow pack is pretty ragged right now but travel is fairly easy because if you can't see ground hazards your not gonna hit them because there is very little ski penetration. That being said I think the biggest hazard is slide for life conditions that exist on all aspects. I booted up the skiers right ventricle to the summit then dug a pit at the bottom of the left ventricle in the starting zone. The pack is around 80cm deep and dense all the way to the ground with no real layering. It was basically one finger from bottom to top with a layer of 3 finger on the surface. There are some signs of early surface faceting in protected high elevation N facing terrain which will probably continue with cooler temperatures and clear cold nights, something to keep track of for now.
photos: snow pit and a view of coverage from the top
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Low
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Low