Observation: Cardiff Fork

Observation Date
1/27/2021
Observer Name
Mirhashemi
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Cardiff Fork
Location Name or Route
The Tube, Mill D South/Upper Cardiff Fork
Red Flags
Red Flags
Wind Loading
Cracking
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Trend
Increasing Danger
Problem #2 Comments
Winds were mostly out of the E-SE where we were skiing, forming some pretty significant hard slabs (4F+/1F) on west facing aspects that were pretty reactive. We observed several instances of cracking, one of which propagated at least 100' across a small bowl, slid a couple inches downhill and stopped (~25 deg slope).
Comments
I would be super heads up on a variety of aspects with suspected windloading and expect to find them on unusual slopes like these western slopes we skied today. easy to be caught off guard when we get a storm like this one with more easterly winds. Photos are from a crack that propagated at least 100' out just up canyon from the Tube entrance. Sorry a couple photos auto-rotated to fit the sizing restrictions. Just get a good neck stretch out of it.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Considerable
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Considerable