Observation Date
1/5/2023
Observer Name
Staples, Deutschlander, Manship, Winzeler
Region
Uintas » Upper Humpy Creek
Location Name or Route
Humpy Peak area
Comments
Rode around Humpy Peak. Looked at the snow in a few places. Generally the PWL of facets from mid-November is very easy to find. Total snow depths ranged from 1-1.4 meters (3-4.5 ft) of very supportable snow. The facets are 1-2 feet above the ground.
The good news - this layer has gained a little bit of hardness (and strength). It is more stubborn in our stability tests (mostly ECTP's in the upper 20's).
The bad news - it is still very easy to find and to feel this layer with your shovel when digging a snowpit. It is still very easy to see visually. Most importantly it has still been producing avalanches.
Winds were transporting snow all day long at ridgetops. As soon as we dropped down just a little bit, we were out of the wind. Winds are doing three things:
- Building cornices which make good avalanche triggers when they break and hit the slope below
- Forming slabs of wind drifted snow which can make avalanches on their own like this one
- Adding more snow and more weight to avalanche starting zones and increasing the likelihood of avalanches
Video
Snowpit and profile from a south facing slope at 9470 ft near treeline. It surprised us with an ECTP score of 16 on facets under a crust (a bad score).
Snowpit and profile from a North facing pit. Even though this ECT did not propagate a crack across the whole column, I consider it a false stable result because (1) we dug the pit below an avalanche about 4-5 days old, and (2) there was an avalanche less than 24 hours old nearby.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Considerable
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Considerable
Coordinates