Observation: Alta Ski Area

Mark White

Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Alta Ski Area

So Long, Alta

Took a quick trip up to So Long this afternoon to have a look at the new snow. There was around 6 to 8 inches of new light density snow resting on rocks and dirt down low and on the solar aspects, on the polar aspects the snow landed on extremely weak faceted snow from previous storms. The wind was blowing from the NW, not very strong at mid elevations but a bit more stout in high exposed terrain. Any terrain that the wind had effected on the polars would crack when provoked. There wasn’t enough of a slab in the terrain covered to cause a avalanche but it’s a thin line between not enough and too much. You can pretty much plan on avalanches in high, wind affected terrain that had previous snow. These places are spotty but they are also the places that are skiable right now. We’ll have to wait and see how the snow stacks up this week and if we get a connected slab that will run on the facets.

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