Observation Date
12/11/2021
Observer Name
Ted Scroggin
Region
Uintas » Bald Mountain
Location Name or Route
Hwy 150-Bald Mt.
Weather
Sky
Overcast
Wind Direction
South
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
Mostly cloudy with periods of sun and generally light winds off the ridge lines. Temperatures were brisk this morning, but moderated this afternoon.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
12"
New Snow Density
Medium
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Snow Characteristics Comments
The storm snow has settled out to about 8-10" at the trailhead and a nice foot or so up around Hayden Pass and Mirror Lake. Nice medium density snow to help fill in all the rocks, while I was finding quite stiff and dense surface snow around Bald Mt. making for some upside down conditions.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Wind Loading
Cracking
Collapsing
Red Flags Comments
I would imagine yesterday the snow was quite reactive just after the storm, but even today I experienced a few good collapses and the snow conditions were very inverted. There was lots of cracking in the new snow that was sitting on the old weak snow surface. The winds had really stiffened up the snow around the Bald Mt. area.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Trend
Decreasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments
Winds and fresh snow have created dense wind drifts and I observed a recent natural wind slab that released on a low angle slope on a northeast aspect on Bald Mt. This wind slab was sitting on top of the old weak surface snow and could not support the weight of the slab.
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Same
Problem #2 Comments
Not quite sure if the old weak faceted snow will become a persistent weak layer going forward, but right now I will keep digging to around to see where it is and how it reacts to more snow and wind loading.
Comments
It looked more like winter today with fresh snow and lots of riders out for a ride and nice powder snow. It is still pretty thin off the roads and people were keeping it safe and not venturing off trail.
Spotted this small natural wind slab avalanche on a low angle slope at the base of Bald Mt. Looks like dense wind blown snow overloaded the old weak surface snow. It was about 100 feet wide, a foot deep on a northeast facing slope above 10,000 feet in elevation.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate
Coordinates
