Observation: Moab

Observation Date
1/31/2021
Observer Name
Kennard, Grote, Levine
Region
Moab
Location Name or Route
Horse Creek
Weather
Sky
Clear
Wind Direction
Southwest
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
it may only be the end of January, but it sure felt like a spring day up the Horse Creek Drainage. A cold start in the parking lot quickly lead to temps in the upper 20's possibly hitting the low 30's by the time we were on our way out. Winds were calm with and occasional light gust. Great weather for a tour, but lets hope we get some more snow before spring actually hits the mountains.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Damp
Snow Characteristics Comments
The snow in Horse Creek is still pretty thin in places. We had to choose our lines carefully as there was still plenty of grass and shrubs poking through in places with rocks only 5' under the surface in places. Seemed like the snow had a hard time holding on up there during our January dry spell. We got lots of small to medium collapses on our way in on north and west facing slopes on the way into the drainage, but not much activity to speak of on the southwest slopes most likely because of the lack of snow. The high temps and abundant sun created some damp conditions later in the day, a good reminder to wax those skis and cary some skin way with you.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Recent Avalanches
Collapsing
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
Plenty of collapsing on our tour today with a very obvious upside down snow pack with the snow from this past week sitting on a layer of facets. We also got a good look at the slide Eric remotely triggered yesterday. Even from a distance it had an impressive crown and the cracks from the skin track were obvious from across the drainage. It also looked like coyote chute had slid recently as well as another small crown to the lookers right of coyote about half way down the pitch. best to stay off steep slopes for a bit.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Same
Problem #1 Comments
Classic shallow La Sal snow pack, going to take a while for things to heal up, but the warm weather today may have helped the process.
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Trend
Decreasing Danger
Problem #2 Comments
Plenty of snow was moved around creating cross loading during this past storm cycle. If you were to trigger one of these I would imagine it would step down quickly into the facets and propagate across the slope. These slabs will become more stubborn over time.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Considerable
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Considerable