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Observation: Baldy

Observation Date
11/12/2021
Observer Name
Greg Gagne
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Alta Ski Area » Baldy
Location Name or Route
Atla - Collins - Baldy
Weather
Sky
Broken
Wind Direction
Northwest
Wind Speed
Calm
Weather Comments
Very light winds out of the northwest with mild temperatures.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
1"
New Snow Density
High
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Damp
Snow Characteristics Comments
Storm snow since Tuesday has settled into a 20-30 cm slab of dense, cohesive snow. The dense snow keeps you at the surface providing for easy travel.
HS is 65 cms at ~10,000', although I suspect there are other north-facing zones with closer to 75-90 cms settled snow.
Snow Profile
Aspect
North
Elevation
9,900'
Slope Angle
Unknown
Comments
Overall a stable, right-side-up snowpack with no widespread weaknesses found in upper Collins/Baldy terrain. There are a few mid-pack crusts - notably the old snow surface prior to this week's storm that is now buried down 20-30 cms. Last weekend some were finding facets above and below this crust, but I was unable to get any clean shears around this crust and ECT couldn't get any failures. Some were also finding a crust/facet/crust combo at this layer (Mark Staples observation) but I could only find one crust today and it was difficult to identify the facets.
The weakest snow I was finding was a layer of graupel down ~15-20 cms but there was no cracking observed on top of this layer and I suspect this weak layer will gain strength.
So far I am not seeing anything of concern in our early-season snowpack.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
None
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
None