March Kicks Off Our Spring Campaign- Donate Now to Support Forecasting
Ad
The National Forest Service Logo
icon-add Observation
Forecasts
Logan Ogden Salt Lake Provo Uintas Skyline Moab Abajos Weather Archives How to read the forecast
Observations & Avalanches
Submit Observation Observations Explorer All Observations Avalanches Fatalities Weather Place Names Map Archives
Education
Avalanche Class List UAC Class List Online Classes Resources and Tutorials Avalanche Awareness Develop Skills
Events
Store
About
Contact Who we are Core Values Staff Board of Directors Past Forecasters Sponsors Annual Reports Sign In
Blog
icon-add Observation
Donate / Join

Observation: Willows

Observation Date
3/7/2025
Observer Name
Derek DeBruin, Dave Leydet
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Willows
Location Name or Route
USA bowl, Willows
Weather
Weather Comments
Snowed continuously, S- to S1, until at least noon when we headed downcanyon. Very little wind, very reasonable temps.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Characteristics Comments
Skied W-S-SE aspects. Could just touch the crust underfoot when skiing off the ridges due to wind fetching away the storm snow onto the lee side. Below ridgelines it was knee to waist deep.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Heavy Snowfall
Red Flags Comments
Hard to ignore the heavy snowfall, though things were generally stable where we traveled. We couldn't push snow around until we got to about 35-40 degrees, and then got dry loose that required some sluff management, but didn't run super far/deep. 35 and under felt quite stable.
Comments
Resistant hand shears with failures in the storm interfaces; didn't get anything to run on the crust. Not super storm slabby; only things resembling cracks were minor things at ridges due to wind/cornice, and even that was unimpressive (but obviously didn't press our luck).
Attempted to get photos of the cornices hanging over the monitors, but vis was not conducive. This photo will have to suffice, which I think illustrates conditions nicely.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
None
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
None
Coordinates