Observation Date
1/16/2021
Observer Name
Ted Scroggin
Region
Uintas » Gold Hill
Location Name or Route
Gold Hill
Weather
Wind Direction
Northwest
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
Another very nice clear and mild day with light northwest winds, temperatures stayed pleasant and as Craig Gordon likes to say: " what a way to run a winter."
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
2"
New Snow Density
Medium
Snow Surface Conditions
Dense Loose
Faceted Loose
Wind Crust
Snow Characteristics Comments
Hardly enough new snow to measure at the trail head, but around two inches out in Gold Hill with some of that falling as graupel. I was finding the riding to be a mixed bag today, with some places a little supportable, while many places it is punchy and bottomless sugar snow. Each time I got off the sled I would drop to the bottom in weak sugary snow. South facing slopes were crusted today with the two inches of new snow on top.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Cracking
Collapsing
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
Today the snow pack was a lot more vocal with numerous eye opening collapses and shooting cracks, these were in places where the strong winds this week overloaded the weak snow near the bottom of the snow pack. It felt like the hazard was a "spooky" moderate in the Gold Hill zone with the possibility of triggering an avalanche on steeper slopes.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Same
Problem #1 Comments
I was a bit surprised today to experience numerous collapses and cracking as I traveled around the Gold Hill Basin. I think the stronger winds this week put a bit more of a slab on top of the weak snow pack and my added weight was the final bit of stress to collapse the snow. The extended column test I did on a northeast facing slope resulted in an ECTP6 and the column just fell in my lap to my surprise.
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Trend
Decreasing Danger
Problem #2 Comments
All the old wind drifts I stomped on seemed pretty well locked up and nothing would crack. The winds again today were generally light and not moving any snow around.
Comments
It felt like the theme of the day was cracking and collapsing of the weak snow pack and some of the collapses were quite attention getting. I was not anticipating too many red flags today, but the Gold Hill zone felt fairly unstable and a little on the "spooky" moderate side of the danger scale.
There has been some fairly recent avalanche activity that appears to be triggered from more moose in the area. These slides are in the other direction along the same ridge line from the very large slide that Mark Staples and Steve Martin reported in late December. I don't recall seeing so many moose tracks on these slopes this time of the year.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate
Coordinates
