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Observation: Gold Hill

Observation Date
3/5/2022
Observer Name
Ted Scroggin
Region
Uintas » Gold Hill
Location Name or Route
Gold Hill
Weather
Sky
Broken
Precipitation
Light Snowfall
Wind Direction
Southwest
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
A couple inches new snow at the trailhead this morning and maybe around three inches in Gold Hill with another inch or two accumulated as the day went on. Winds were light on the ridges from the southwest and not moving any snow that I observed. Generally felt like a transition day with hopefully a more organized storm this evening and into Sunday/Monday.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
3"
New Snow Density
Medium
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Faceted Loose
Wind Crust
Melt-Freeze Crust
Damp
Snow Characteristics Comments
The two to three inches of new snow did not improve conditions very much, it basically put dust on crust. There are a lot of old hard tracks out there and we could sure use a good shot of snow. The avalanche conditions did not change much today, there was little wind where I traveled and I did not observe the new snow being blown around creating any wind issues.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Cracking
Collapsing
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
The very weak sugary faceted snow can be found on most north through east facing slopes and is easily located beneath a variety of crusts and other layers. A good shot of snow with some water weight could create some interesting avalanche conditions.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Increasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments
I was finding the weak sugary snow from the long dry spell on most aspects that I traveled today and it would sure feel like a rising avalanche danger with some new snow and wind.
Comments
1. Not much new snow yet with only a couple inches this morning and was basically dust on crust and did not improve riding conditions all that much.
2. On this east facing slope around 10,000' the couple inches new snow is sitting on a stout crust with the very weak sugar snow underneath that. Not sure how much weight this crust will take before it fails and breaks into the the faceted snow.
3. There was some impressive trenching from sleds as they rode through faceted snow.
I did have one good collapse with this piece of snow cracking out above me and it did not slide because of the low slope angle. There are a few places where the slab is connected just enough to overload the weak snow underneath.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Low
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate
Coordinates