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Observation: Lake Desolation

Observation Date
1/1/2021
Observer Name
Champion
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Mill D North » Lake Desolation
Location Name or Route
Lake Desolation - Park City Ridgeline
Weather
Sky
Clear
Wind Direction
Southwest
Wind Speed
Calm
Weather Comments
Beautiful bluebird day up above the clouds. Very calm winds throughout the day, around 1pm the clouds started moving their way uphill and we dropped down into them around 8500'. Within the cloud, both the air and the snow surface was damp.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Dense Loose
Faceted Loose
Wind Crust
Snow Characteristics Comments
Snow surfaces were varied today and changed throughout the day. Most areas had some form of loose snow sitting on the surface and small SH forming within the soft surface snow. Southerly facing terrain was very shallow, and possessed a firm crust beneath the loose surface snow. Northerlys still hold some cold powder, dense loose, and faceted snow. On the Park City ridgeline proper there was obvious signs of wind. Once we dropped back into the cloud, below 8500' the entire snow surface was damp and could be easily made into a snowball.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Cracking
Collapsing
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
Got a few widespread collapses and cracking while walking up above Lake Desolation. This primarily occurred in an area that has large rocks below the snow surface.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Problem #1 Comments
The main problem is the poor snowpack structure that exists across the range. Today while traveling to the Park City Ridge we got multiple cracks and collapses, but when we dug on a North Aspect at 9200' we were unable to get any propagation. In that area, we had two layers of concern. The entire bottom 40cm of the snowpack were large faceting grains. Above the basal facets, sat a firm finger hard 5cm layer, with 10cm of weak faceted snow above that. Yet, during the extended column tests, we only got collapse and no propagation. I believe this has to do with the overall spatial variability and the cohesiveness of the slab. Overall the poor snowpack structure is still very present and human-triggered avalanches remain possible.
Cracking observed while traveling from Desolation Lake to the Park City Ridgeline around 9200'.
Holding the supportable melt-freeze crust on the solar aspects below the recent soft snow. SH forming on the surface.
Signs of previous wind drifting on the PC Ridgeline
The previous activity of Squaretop on the PC Ridgeline.
The poor snowpack structure that existed between the Park City Ridgeline and Powder Park 1 around 9200' on a North aspect. The entire bottom 40cm of the snowpack is weak faceted snow.
The cloud/fog settling in around 8500'.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate
Coordinates