Wasatch Conditions 09-10

[The Gnarwhale]

Ty and I broke trail under bluebird skies. Snow was soft, but above treeline we were only getting a few inches of ski penetration. It had settled considerably overnight.




At this entrance we lopped a Gene Simmons tongue of a cornice, sending several hundred pounds of snow to the bottom but failed to trigger a slab avalanche. Upon looking over the edge we noticed a nearly buried crown line, though it was hard to guess it's age or on which weak layer it had failed.


Ski cutting into most north-facing side of the gully, I triggered a shallow soft slab of freshly wind-deposited snow. By late morning the wind was transporting significant amounts of storm snow, though most new deposits were F to 4F density.


Velvet cake skiing on the fresh debris; beyond where the cornice had rolled it was just velvet


It got green-housy by lunchtime and solar aspects were cooking by mid-afternoon


But north facing was good all the way down to the road

[powdork]

i was just focused on the track in that last pic, and then i saw the skier.
nice.

[skifishbum]

Spent the last 2 days pokng around B right On slack country.
Yea under reporting and open boundries.
Thurs new snow and wind loading was easily triggered on steeper aspects.
Ski cut a 1' deep by 50' wide on back side of Clayton.
Good skiing crappy vis

Yesterday got a late start missed the action here not sure if it involved someone going for a ride appeared to be more than a cornice drop.
crown = 2'


from top

crown propagated around to low angle on side.

Another skier triggered slide off pioneer proper

Skied a couple poi laps before heading around Catherines and up sunset for a close encounter of the flying turd type
Wonder if they count seein ya when they land on top ya.
Ne facing sunset into snake creek skied great although slight crust on se aspects of gully and skin out.


Fun to watch sunset n face get hammered by some rippers.
and cool views up there


EI EI O shot

headed back up poineer for the out

[muted]

Todays report:

As forecast, yesterday was an extremely wild day. I think it set a record for the number of human triggered avalanches reported to us in one day. Here is the list:

21 significant, human triggered avalanches in the backcountry

9 unintentionally triggered

7 people caught

4 partial burials including one with just his hand sticking out

What are you guys doing differently than the people setting off slides on 30 degree slopes? (Obviously the cornice drop was a good indicator, for example.)

I haven't been out in 6 weeks because of an injury so I'm confused on how the conditions really are.

[Rudyj2]

Todays report:

What are you guys doing differently than the people setting off slides on 30 degree slopes? (Obviously the cornice drop was a good indicator, for example.)

I haven't been out in 6 weeks because of an injury so I'm confused on how the conditions really are.

First of all let me say I am no avalanche expert. But I do have 25 years of BC experience in the Wasatch.

IMO, you have to know the seasonal snowpack history of each canyon, drainage and slope you are going to push the angles on. That and dig pits with the ability to discern faceted cystals and weak layers.

[skifishbum]

I drive down the road till I find some avvy poodles doing road side slope stablity testing. When they huck it and it don't slide Shizz is good
and I'm always reccoing.

Or there is the "control work" obs

Probably won't be goin here till 4/20 though

[Trackhead]

Our group is too poor to buy sleds, so we skated 15 miles up the road to Bald Pass to take a look around. Nice day in the Uintas, hope to get back again soon and in the spring.


Bald Peak....the SE face of Murdock Peak down the road was looking plump, no pics. The skate 15 miles home was a lot easier.........

[TeleThor]

Some "plump" skis you got there. Do they ski a lot like your 120s?

Beautiful area up there. I've only been there in the summer/fall and right after the road gets opened.

BTW, I know xc poles are long, but those look ridiculous.

I'll be honest, I've been thinking of getting some xc skis again. Being an actual greencard-holding Norwegian, I feel like I need to embrace it at some point in my life. I grew out of my teenager gear that my parents bought for me years ago, but when I visited my parents xmas 2008 I borrowed my dad's stuff and had several freakishly fun days out in the backwoods on the skinnies. I want some of those Karhu Xcds for going on xc/a few turns here and there days.

Sorry for the thread drift.

[Trackhead]

Some "plump" skis you got there. Do they ski a lot like your 120s?

BTW, I know xc poles are long, but those look ridiculous.

Poles are 163cm long, I'm 6 foot. Yeah, the 40mm skis fucking rock at Alta. Sickness.........

[RTR]

9500 ft, north facing aspects in White Pine drainage showed great promise and sintering. Despite the avy report, we couldn't get any column to fail until CT40+, even though simple shovel-shear tests were giving us Q1-Q2-ish failures at 30cm, 45cm, and 65cm depths.

The snow got a bit heavier as the day moved along, but we didn't have many signs of instabilities, other than some minor wet sluffing. Skiing mid to upper-thirty degree slopes didn't have anything moving under us.

Great day. Meagan on the exit back to Pino Blanco

[PROVO]

^^^ Trackhead, let me know when you are going to traverse the uinta crest. I'd be down to tag along for the first 1/8th. There are some great objectives along the way.

[Trackhead]

^^^ Trackhead, let me know when you are going to traverse the uinta crest. I'd be down to tag along for the first 1/8th. There are some great objectives along the way.

Will do....it's going to be hard to get the conditions right, but, we'll see.

Saw a bunch of could be cool pillow lines today, looked familiar.

[Mark H]

9500 ft, north facing aspects in White Pine drainage showed great promise and sintering. Despite the avy report, we couldn't get any column to fail until CT40+, even though simple shovel-shear tests were giving us Q1-Q2-ish failures at 30cm, 45cm, and 65cm depths.

I'll second that. Hit Red Baldy in the afternoon. Moderate wind damage at the base of it but higher up was still suprisingly good.

[The Gnarwhale]

What are you guys doing differently than the people setting off slides on 30 degree slopes? (Obviously the cornice drop was a good indicator, for example.)

I haven't been out in 6 weeks because of an injury so I'm confused on how the conditions really are.

As the UAC forecast points out, the backcountry is a layered patchwork of instabilities this year. Over the past two weeks nearly all of the many avalanches triggered have run on surface hoar. Because surface hoar is easily broken down by sun and wind when it's on the snow surface, some steeper sun- and wind-exposed terrain lacks that particular weak layer. That same terrain, however, is often more prone to collecting wind slabs and it doesnt take much probing around to discover that the facets at the bottom of the snowpack are lingering most everywhere.

So it's far from "green light" conditions, despite the many tracks in avalanche terrain. I think nearly every one of my ski partners have triggered multiple avalanches this year both intentionally and by accident. Experts with decades more experience than I have under my belt have gone for rides. My "Wasatch lines I'd like to ski" list has been benched, maybe for the year. Getting into terrain over 30 degrees requires more wisdom and observation than it has other years.

It is a little ironic that right now many of the popular backcountry areas known for good skiing in times of higher avy danger are dotted with crown lines while some bigger alpine terrain is getting skied without consequence. Maybe a lot of us just get lucky a lot of the time.

A step-downer from today:

[Trackhead]

Maybe a lot of us just get lucky a lot of the time.

Yup, and if you don't think so, you're kidding yourself.

[skifishbum]

I've modified my lines I'd like to ski list with lines I believe I can safely ski.
Those change from day to day.
A few more obs from yesterday
Some natrural activity on the Nw kessler/argenta chutes.
the headwall snowpack felt much better than the last time we were up there.
still a bit of collapsing and instablity on sw ridge to Kessler.
another storm and evidence of this

great shot btw Zach
will be covered



Someone skied the NE coliuar. Top turns seemed dicey as much penatration into hollow snowpack. They may have rapped in for all I know. E ramp skied great some naturl activity in gullies and slight crust on se aspects.
My athelete
PowderPondo

and our spansers/wives


looks like fun TH
You & Lurker guy should star jumping and go for nordi combined in 2014

[sfotex]

Getting into terrain over 30 degrees requires more wisdom and observation than it has other years.
...................
Maybe a lot of us just get lucky a lot of the time.

I think for the most part this year it's rolling the dice if you're getting into the steeper stuff. Other then knowing what's slid and hasn't reloaded yet, etc. it's a crap shoot if you're getting into the steeper stuff this season. And there's not a lot of room for error this year too.

But the last few weeks conditions seem to sorta be a little more typical to the Wasatch - dig a pit/hasty pit on the stuff you want to ski, cut it, ski safe, etc and your probably ok. But we'll see what happens when the surface hoar gets buried deeper.

[skifishbum]

I think for the most part this year it's rolling the dice if you're getting into the steeper stuff. Other then knowing what's slid and hasn't reloaded yet, etc. it's a crap shoot if you're getting into the steeper stuff this season. And there's not a lot of room for error this year too.

But the last few weeks conditions seem to sorta be a little more typical to the Wasatch - read uac report take doom& gloom with a grain of salt, dig a pit/hasty pit on the stuff you want to ski, cut it, ski safe, etc and your probably ok. But we'll see what happens when the surface hoar gets buried deeper.

420
4
me

[sfotex]

Skied Willows up to Monitor. Could see the crown in Monitor from a few days ago, looked like it got re-wind loaded too in the lasts few days. N-NE facing was nice and creamy, the south facing stuff had a nice stout crust on it.

[ectreeskier11]

anyone ski high-ish elevation (say 9000+), sheltered N thru E today? looks to be a nice one tomorrow and i'd like to get away from the bird again if there's some stuff left that hasn't gotten baked.

[benk]

Anyone want to message me and give me some details on some good touring locations around salt lake. Never been down there but I've been applying for jobs in Utah so I'd thought I make a trip to check it out.

I'm coming down from Oregon so somewhere with overnight parking or camping would be great or an open couch?

thanks everyone

[tyfalk]

Went up Broads to ditch the powderbird...


Bluebird day with mild temps and little wind in Big Cottonwood, Liam on the up track.


We got up bonkers just in time to miss out on the start of some small wet activity coming off the south east ridge. CT 12 Q1 on East aspect at apx. 9,300ft. failed around 8 intches down just under the new snow. Views off the top of bonkers...


Liam laying them down on the creamy pow...


Another killer day in the wasatch.

[djc]

Finally did some skiing in the Ogden mountains worth reporting.

On the hike up we noted multiple north facing naturals at about 8000 feet:





BL saddle:



Cornice:



Up:



Almost there:



Took a conservative route down BL and did not note any additional instabilities until finding a north facing natural at approximately 7000 foot elevation that failed on a layer of surface hoar about 16 inches from the surface:



The slope was approx. 32 degrees and the slide did not travel far.

A few more photos:

[Mark H]

Down the Hogum 200.


purdy


The Sliver


Snapdragon



Watched 2 guys hit the northwest couloir


The climb into Bell



Dropping into Thunder Bowl




Gotta love the wild ride down lower Bell



Another group got a 2' x 70' wet slab to pull out in mid Bell south facing

[GoEhuge]

So I'm just looking at this thread for the first time in a while.... awesome stoke, but whats the deal? Has this turned into a TR thread?

I'm headed out to SLC on Friday morning and am getting psyched about the forecasted storm.

STORM TOTALS IN THE MOUNTAINS COULD RANGE BETWEEN 8 AND 16 INCHES...
WITH A FEW WEST FACING SLOPES RECEIVING GREATER AMOUNTS.

Where's all the weather chatter??

I haven't been to LCC since I spent a season there 3 years ago and it's sad to say I've lost touch with most people. PAGING LAX!! Regardless, anyone know of a way to get some sort of Alta discount tix for Friday afternoon? Any help would be much appreciated.