Utarded Conditions

[SkiingBear]

Great info APD, thanks for the good work. Will keep it in mind as I plan the weekend and spread the info to all I know that are going out.

[AltaPowderDaze]

for those of you planning to go up today...don't. it is starting to get pretty nasty up there. early in the morning the conditions were still good but rapily declined. today was going to be an assessment day for me, but i was unable to do so because of the situation. winds gusted high enough to blow me back up hill when skiing down. i only made it to within 50 yards of the top before it got really bad. the slab that was only developing on the east aspect had begun to form on my west and south also. the south slab was forming on a clear crust from a couple days ago and ranged from 2-8". the W slab was the thickest but i wonder how far down the slope it really went. i was not going to find out today. SE and E had the most chance of propagation to a steeper slope which it did in a few cases. the slabs began to display characteristics of a more cohesive slab (hard), yet i would still characterise them as soft for the time being. that may change in an hour or so. the crust layer that is down will be a concern as more snow piles on top. that is the most likely layer to slide on but graupel started to fall and blanket the new snow, which may be a problem later. there was no safe route off either side of the ridge, so i had to pick my way down the rocks and brush hoping to find boilerplate. even the center of the ridge itself was becoming loaded. i skied very conservatively realizing that someone may be coming up the skin track and there was. three guys who saw the signs of natural activity on their way up and ignored it were directly below me. i did some clanking of the poles to get their attention, yelled and motioned for them to turn back. after thinking about it and deskinning, they did. i also yelled at them to move quickly since they were under a slab that had already had a crown and one flank started. they got out of there and i slope cut it so i had a safe place to come down.

long story short...be careful with these new weak layers. i could not make it up to check the other 180 degrees for instability, but i bet it is there with the south winds that we have had. currently the strong west winds have created these new problems.


this is the only pic i could get to turn out in the light i had. it shows a sensetive slab on an 18-22 degree slope above trees.
http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic28860.jpg

[boarderline]

Agreed. Wind loading and cornice formations are happening at an alarming rate right now. Stump and I had hoped to ski Pioneer Ridge above the Crest Express chair yesterday at Brighton but were turned back by sketchy looking wind loading. The windward side was wind scoured and covered in stratugi. We didn't want to find out what was on the leeward side.

In addition, you could feel a cohesive, slabby layer starting to form about 18-24" under the surface. We scored some excellent powder in a wind-protected tree stash, however, as I'm sure you've seen pictures of.

Be careful out there.

[Mr. Altagirl]

Nice job on the heads up, you guys have really been giving some great beta lately. I've got a friend that has been really dumb lately and I'm going to call him to make sure he isn't really getting himself into something quite dangerous. Thanks again and hope to see you guys tomorrow.

[Xover]

APD,

Location??

[AltaPowderDaze]

just did flagstaff for that safe access to all aspects. didn't exactly work out as planned. it is exposed, but i've never seen it go to shit that fast.

[grizzle6]

Thanks for the info APD. Much appreciated.

[AltaPowderDaze]

bump because the post times are off, so the last post took it off the front page.

btw, does anyone know if i can move this post to the snow conditions forum myself or is that owens deal?

[greendot]

I was one of those 3 guys skinning up. We didn't ignore the situation. Yes there was plenty of cracking in the 2-4" of windslab on top of the older welded snow. We couldn't hear a word of your yelling, we realized that the skiing was going to be shitty so we turned around. Instead of going home, we drove to another location that was more wind-protected and did multiple excellent runs on steep, stable, dry snow. That's the great thing about the Wasatch, it's always good somewhere. Flag wasn't it today.

[AltaPowderDaze]

the sheltered areas would have been good. anything near the exposed areas are going to be nasty. the avalanche report confirms most of what i was thinking. as for greendot, i'm not bagging on you. i wasn't sure if you heard me or not, but i wasn't going to move any farther until i knew that the slab was sure not to reach you guys. the slabs got thicker as you went up. the one above you was a 6"er that did not go far. if it were me below, i'd be pissed if some guy above me saw where i was and still skied anyway just thinking that it wouldn't reach me. flagstaff is usually a very safe route even in high avy conditions that can be ascended even when you see natural activity near you. you guys said that you saw some of it and contiued. what you may have missed is that the slide you passed was the exact same aspect as what you'd be skinning in a few more minutes. you are right, the good skiing was elsewhere. and i'm glad you guys got to go up the road for some good turns. btw, where did you find the goods today?

three guys skied down flagstaff when i first started up and they were just fine. i did however cover most of their tracks with debris as i came down the ridge. i will still be looking for the slabs on the ridges and rollovers tomorrow. enjoy and be safe.



edit: greendot, props to you guys for breaking new trail to a safer are. the earlier one was convoluded and right under the steep slope. i followed the old one when i started since the conditions were still ok. but i did think about it. i'm glad you guys did it.

[greendot]

I don't want to let you in on all the secrets but........we did some runs off of Honeycomb Pk. and Black Bess down into Grizzly. Kicking cornices into Honeycomb pulled out some shallow soft slabs. East Bowl looked tasty but definitely wind-loaded but at least one person skied it from about the 2/3rds level.

[AltaPowderDaze]

good deal. glad you got to make turns today. it looks like alta is open for tomorrow so i will be making my turns there in the early am. enjoy the early, pre lift, season while it lasts.