Observation: Wolf Creek

Observation Date

12/11/2021

Observer Name

Craig Gordon/Mark Staples

Region

Uintas » Wolf Creek

Location Name or Route

Wolf Creek Pass/Backbowl

Weather

Sky

Overcast

Wind Direction

Southwest

Wind Speed

Light

Weather Comments

Weather we observed not changing avy hazard or snowpack stability.

Snow Characteristics

New Snow Depth

10"

New Snow Density

Low

Snow Surface Conditions

Powder

Snow Characteristics Comments

Great shot of snow for the eastern front! We found nice creamy snow on sunny slopes, though the storm snow fell on bare ground and you've gotta tread lightly. The north half of the compass offers quality riding with enough body in the snowpack to keep you off the ground. In either case... it's low tide and the Uinta's are white from far... but far from white.

Red Flags

Cracking

Collapsing

Poor Snowpack Structure

Red Flags Comments

While thin and somewhat weak, we've certainly seen worse setups going into the shortest days of the year. That said, what we need now is to keep adding insulating layers of snow on top of current snowpack, so it can maintain some integrity, otherwise it's going to grow increasingly weak. It's a wait and see... hopefully the midweek storm materializes and we can close the doors to the facet factory.

Avalanche Problem #1

Problem

Persistent Weak Layer

Problem #1 Comments

Thursday's storm snow is barely becoming a slab, but on upper elevation shady slopes it's resting on weak snow formed during the November dry-spell. Both Mark and I experienced subtle collapses throughout the day letting us know that it's slightly irritated with the additional weight and sudden change.

Avalanche Problem #2

Problem

Wind Drifted Snow

Problem #2 Comments

Now that there's snow available to blow around, we 'll need to keep an eye on pre-frontal winds as they ramp up for the Tuesday storm. This could be a game changer and I suspect the avy danger will bump up accordingly.

Snow Profile

Aspect

Northwest

Elevation

9,600'

Slope Angle

28°