Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Grizzly Gulch » Patsy Marly
Location Name or Route
Patsy Marley
Comments
Mostly, new snow instabilities strengthen and settles out fast. I can't help but be a bit suspicious of the poor bonding below the ice crust. ECT - no propagation, CT12. This issue is pretty limited to northerly facing, upper elevation slopes, and will need more snow (that we probably won't get). My current theory is the thinner the crust, the greater the chance of any slide breaking out below it. But I didn't test my theory with too many pits.
Photos Below:
First photo - when you find a patch where the wind has scoured away all the new snow, down to ice, it's time to look for where that snow has gone.
Second photo - wind drifting snow
Third photo - Cracky soft cornice along the ridge line.