Observation Date
1/25/2022
Observer Name
Coyne/ Wessler
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Brighton Perimeter
Location Name or Route
Brighton Periphery
Weather
Wind Direction
North
Wind Speed
Calm
Weather Comments
Today's weather brought a little bit of everything. Short lived, but high rate of snowfall made the morning commute a bit Stars Wars esque. We received a solid 2.0" in upper BCC with accumulations tapering off mid morning, but beautiful stellar danced out of the sky throughout the day and were well preserved with little to no wind observed after the initial sunrise squall. Temps stayed chilly most of the day with a few good breaks where the sun poked out.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
2"
New Snow Density
Low
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Snow Characteristics Comments
Couple inches here and a couple inches there keeps the low angle skiing enjoyable. 5 star Dad Pow.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Recent Avalanches
Heavy Snowfall
Wind Loading
Cracking
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
Our group only observed a few limited signs of instability. We had eyes on steep N Facing terrain and only observed very minor size 1 point releases off steep rocky terrain (enough to kick your legs out from under you in consequential terrain, but not enough to bury a person).
As we began our tour today we were keeping our eyes peeled for wind loading in odd places due to the North winds, but alas the winds remained calm in our neck of the woods. We only found one obvious pocket of wind loading on a small test slope and we were able to propagate a crack out of it about 20 cm deep and 1 meter long. I expect this is already healed as I write this.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Trend
Decreasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments
Again, we didn't see much in terms of wind effect out there, but with winds out of the WNW and N and even a hair of E over the past 24 hrs, I always keep the old saying in mind "Weird weather makes for weird avalanches." I would expect one likely where I least expect it.
Comments
Dug a quick pit at the point where we were able to get our small test slope to fail in the wind drifted snow. Photo below. As expected we found about 3" of light fluffy powder sitting atop 4F wind drifter snow sitting atop Fist NSF. ECTP12 about 20cm down.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Low
Coordinates
