Observation: Davenport Hill

Observation Date

12/7/2025

Observer Name

Champion, Collett, Talty

Region

Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Davenport Hill

Location Name or Route

Davenport Hill

Weather

Sky

Scattered

Wind Speed

Calm

Weather Comments

Following the storm, it was a break in the weather and a good day for a walk. Skies were broken throughout the day with scattered clouds and brief bursts of sun in the morning, then filling back in by late afternoon. Temperatures stayed in the low 20s and upper teens, and winds were mostly light with some moderate gusts along the ridgelines. Signs of the stronger winds from earlier were obvious.

Snow Characteristics

New Snow Depth

16"

New Snow Density

Medium

Snow Surface Conditions

Powder

Wind Crust

Snow Characteristics Comments

Between 1 and 2 feet of new medium to high-density storm snow was pretty evenly distributed in upper Little Cottonwood. While it was noted elsewhere, we did not see any obvious signs of surface hoar where we traveled. The main takeaway was the widespread wind texture across many upper elevation slopes. Some areas showed strong texture, while others, mainly on northerly aspects that were not protected, also had wind effect. This included sub ridges and funnel like features.

Textured snow surface - 9500' - SW Aspect

Scoured East Bowl - 9900' - NW Aspect

Additional surface texture - 9700' - SW Aspect

Red Flags

Recent Avalanches

Wind Loading

Cracking

Collapsing

Poor Snowpack Structure

Avalanche Problem #1

Problem

Persistent Weak Layer

Trend

Same

Problem #1 Comments

Peak instability seemed to occur yesterday, but the snowpack structure is still weak. We continued to see large cracks and collapses while walking around, especially on the north side of the compass. We traveled between East Bowl Pass, where we found both a very weak and scoured snowpack, and then moved along the ridgeline toward Davenport to look at the avalanche Trent and Brooke remotely triggered yesterday. We found a 4F to 1F slab sitting on 30 cm of weak, well developed facets.

Looking ahead, the signs of instability may become less obvious, with fewer cracks and collapses, but the most suspect areas will be the ones that look best to ride. Much of the upper elevation north-facing terrain saw a lot of wind and is stripped along ridgelines, but a few hundred feet below ridgelines or in more protected terrain features, the poor structure still exists. The strong over weak setup remains and will continue to be an issue.