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Observation: Lanes Leap

Observation Date
1/14/2023
Observer Name
W Ambler
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » 10420 » Lanes Leap
Location Name or Route
Lanes Leap
Weather
Sky
Scattered
Wind Direction
South
Wind Speed
Moderate
Weather Comments
Winds were blowing all morning across the ridge at moderate speeds. Not much snow seemed to be in motion but there were obvious signs of previous drifting on leeward slopes as well as some cornice action. On top of 10420 around 1 PM the winds were consistently strong and light snowfall had begun to fall as well as a bit of airborne old snow. Sky was overcast at that point.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Dense Loose
Wind Crust
Melt-Freeze Crust
Snow Characteristics Comments
Aspects which saw sun yesterday had a sun crust of varying intensity making skiing difficult on solars. The shady snow was a little heavy and settled but skied well. Conditions were quite variable where wind was in play.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Wind Loading
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Cornice
Trend
Increasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments
In our pits we noticed some instability at density changes where there were older layers of wind drifted snow but what was more exciting were the growing cornices along the ridge. I neglected to stop for pictures but there were impressive pillows and growing cornices along the ridge. Resembled a different ridge than the one I saw in mid December.
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Decreasing Danger
Problem #2 Comments
1f hard rounding and sintering facets were found in the depths of the snowpack. This layer is gaining strength.
Snow Profile
Aspect
North
Elevation
9,600'
Slope Angle
21°
Comments
Felt an inclination to dig today so we dug. Digging took a while so the data gathering was a bit limited after reveling the product of our labors. Tried to fabricate a shovel shear test and a compression test with a 60cm tall slab on top of the facets since 200cm seemed excessive. The shovel shear test required moderate force and broke unevenly in the middle of the facet layer. The compression test was CTN. The same results occurred when I shortened the slab to about 30cm. I'm not sure if there's any real value in this information but it seems to me that the pwl would only fail here with an unreasonably large trigger.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
None
Coordinates