Observation Date
12/7/2021
Observer Name
S. Donovan
Region
Salt Lake » Mill Creek Canyon » Porter Fork » West Porter
Location Name or Route
West Porter
Comments
I wanted to get a data point logged regarding the state of our snowpack on north facing aspects between 8000-9000ft, but unfortunately I ran low on daylight and penchant for postholing around with frozen toes. My apologies for the lack of qualitative info.
Things worth noting:
- The entirety of Westporter below 8500' has loose faceted snow at the top ~6cm. Above 8500' there is a thin crust/windskin covering those facets that I suspect wont be much of a factor in the near future.
- below the uppermost meltfreeze crust (down ~9cm from the surface) the weakening snow is so apparent that it is pouring out of the face of any pit walls.
- As you move down in elevation the gaps in the separation between our multiple crust layers lessens and the crust below the faceted surface layer becomes highly supportable. To the point that I was no longer postholing while running and could easily glissade the remainder of the route.
Graphic shows snow depths at the locations of snowpits.
The Snow below ~7500' is too patchy and inconsistent to provide an accurate depth measurement.
Snow on the west face of Gobblers Knob looked to be patchy or non existent below the sun line in the photo at ~9000'
Today's Observed Danger Rating
None
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
None
Coordinates