Mount Aire12/31/2021 Skipped the traffic and people and went to Mt Aire in Parleys Canyon. There was around a foot of right side up light density new snow, fairly non wind effected. First trip up there this year and was pleasantly surprised with the coverage so far. It being my first time there this season it was time to dig an actual snow pit which I don't do very often. The pit was at 7600ft in elevation, NE facing. There was one prominent weak layer about 2 feet down from the surface, It was a layer of facets under a deteriorating crust and was reactive in compression test, albeit stubborn. When it did fail it had some energy and a clean sheer. I don’t think there is enough of a load on it at the present time but it might be a player with more snow. We never got above 8000ft today and the wind seemed to be cranking harder up high. The price of admission is some good bushwacking but well worth it today.
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Park City Ridgeline12/30/2021 Travel today was up to USA Bowl, out to No Name Bowl then back to USA. Started the day out thinking we could maybe ski No Name since it’s avalanched out to the ground and also upon inspection cleaned out the weak layer from October. Once we got out there we knew it was a bad idea. The SW wind was loading the N end of the compass with plentiful snow and slabbing things up. The scenario we were seeing was getting down the slope a bunch of turns and hitting the deposition zone and triggering a large and connected windslab with no means of an easy escape. I have zero problems with bailing on a objective if it’s not in the cards and we try not to rationalize or talk ourselves into situations that have the possibility of going south. We decided to head back to USA Bowl and do a few laps on the W facing. The W facing was getting stripped down to crust on the upper portion of the bowl but the snow was creamy down off the ridge aways. I would expect that there was some natural activity today because of the constant high SW winds loading the northerly slopes most of the day. After this storm the sun might come out for the weekend but I’m gonna keep it real and stay of steep slopes on the N end of the compass for the time being. Not really in a rush to push the boundaries at the moment and gonna consider the high N end of the compass guilty until proven otherwise.
December 29th, 202112/29/2021 Took a walk up Bowman in Millcreek Canyon today. This is my first time up Millcreek this year, it’s been lacking snow but filling in a bit now. Decided to ski a slide path that’s fairly low down in the drainage. Just like yesterday we stayed out of high elevation N facing terrain and chose a low elevation N facing slide path but we stayed out of the upper steep headwall. There was 2 to 3 feet of snow in the terrain covered with zero to just a little bit of facets at the ground. We stayed under 8500ft all day. We started hiking at around 6000ft and there’s no doubt that the low elevations are thin and brushy but not holding the PWL that higher elevations are plagued with. The wind seemed to be blowing up high but not down low in the drainage. The light density snow would sluff in steeper terrain but not with much zest.
Broads fork12/28/2021 Solo trip up Broads today. I was sure I was gonna see some natural avalanche activity in Bonkers or below Twin peaks on the Diving Board but nothing. Got a good look at both, still bushy in the bottom and no signs of previous avalanches. I couldn’t get a good read on Dromedary in the back so who knows on that one. I know there’s a bad set up in the upper drainage because this is my third trip there this year but no activity out of this last cycle. I ended up skiing some of the glades below the overlook, got bored with that and decided to give the steep lower NW facing a try. There was no old October snow below 8500ft on NW facing so I tried some steep slopes that topped out at about that elevation. There was some notable wind slabs below the 8 to 10 inches of light density but there was no weak snow underlying it and they seemed fairly well glued in place at that elevation. The steeper slopes would sluff quite a bit but the new snow was so low density it didn’t really matter. Probably not going to trust the upper drainage until it gets some good avalanches, or gets a lot more snow.
Butler Fork12/26/2021 Went to Butler Fork today to stay at a lower elevation out of the wind. It was still windy down in the drainage but not like on the upper ridge lines. We’ve gotten a ton of wind and some denser snow out of this last storm cycle. I would prefer more snow and less wind but it is what it is. The strong SW winds have been loading slopes on the N end of the compass for quite a few days now and cross loading E and W. Still avoiding any slopes steep enough to slide on the N end of the compass with old October snow underlying them. All this wind is just making evaluating slopes harder. In the upper elevations the suspect slopes are now covered with hard and soft wind slabs, which may allow you to get out on the slope and well down it before a weak spot in the slab is crossed causing an avalanche. There are also slopes without old snow that are still suspect because of wind slabs and density inversions. Still sticking to the protocol of skiing only low angle slopes on the N end of the compass with old snow underlying them, and being suspect of other steep slopes while we are in the midst of the storm cycle.
No Name Bowl12/23/2021 Went back to No Name Bowl to ski the flank of the large avalanche we saw in there a few days ago. Still not skiing steep slopes on the N end of the compass but this bowl had mostly avalanched out and there was an easy escape route if anything went wrong. The wind was cranking on the ridgeline and even down in the drainage. As soon as we got to the top of the slope I took one step on the flat ridgeline and triggered a wind slab avalanche. The slide was 60ft wide ran about 600 vertical feet and the crown was around 10 inches deep. We skied the thin slice of slope that did not avalanche without any more activity. No Name is a fairly protected mid-elevation slope, I can only imagine what was going on up high. There was quite a bit of snow transport going on today, the SW winds were loading and cross loading N facing slopes most of the day. I would expect avalanche activity, both human triggered and natural to increase in the coming days with more wind and snow expected.
PC Ridgeline12/21/2021 Wanted to get a look at some slopes on the PC Ridgeline before the incoming storms cause you don’t know unless you go and look. Skied a low angle E-SE facing run first. It still had recrystallized settled powder and skied nicely. Wanted to go look at No Name Bowl and see if there was a repeater avalanche from the one I triggered last week. When we got there we came upon a fairly large avalanche that took out 90% of the bowl. The only part that didn’t slide was the part I avalanched out last week and the SE part of the bowl. The dimensions were around 400ft wide and ran 800ft vertical, full track. This is the largest natural avalanche I’ve seen out of this cycle, no trigger required the slope just couldn’t support the weight. On the bright side this is the first avalanche I’ve seen clean out the PWL to the dirt. Looks like it’s gonna get real out there in the next few weeks, time to take a step back and let nature run it’s course.
Butler Fork12/19/2021 Headed up Buttler Fork today for a look and to ski some lower angle E facing slopes. The south end of the compass heated up yesterday and had a crust in the morning and was damp in the afternoon. The only avalanche in the drainage looked to be a natural and ran a few days ago. We were still experiencing cracking and collapsing walking the ridge that divides south facing slopes from steeper north facing slopes. The collapsing would occur when we were on the north facing part of the ridgeline. As has been the protocol all week, if we were on north through east we stuck to mostly low angle slopes with nothing above them. We would only get on steep terrain if it wasn’t holding old snow from October. Surface hoar is forming on the shady protected N facing terrain as well.
Broads Fork12/18/2021 Went to Broads Fork today because we knew no one else would. The plan was to walk up to the overlook at the base of Bonkers and see if anything had avalanched, and if it had maybe ski that, unfortunately nothing had and there was no way in hell we were going any farther. I was up there over a month ago and the snow pack was rotten as it gets. So we decided to make the best of it and ski some low angle glades and some steeper west facing lines that didn’t have old snow from October. The only activity in upper Broads was a few small Glide avalanches. Yep they happen in winter too. Even while skiing low angle N facing glades below 8500ft we were getting loud collapses, and we knew it would be asking for trouble walking under the SLC Twins or Dromedary. The problem with the PWL is that it doesn’t settle out or heal rapidly. It takes a lot of time and weight. You gotta go check stuff out sometimes and have the ability to pass on certain terrain if your not feeling it.
The Nipple12/17/2021 Travel today started at Spruces campground, we hiked up Mill D to Dog Lake then continued on to the Nipple in Buttler Fork. It’s basically been snowing all week and it didn’t stop today. Probably snowed 4 to 5 inches of light density snow since this morning until we left at 3. The wind was also cranking up high in exposed terrain but not too bad down lower in protected terrain. The light density snow would sluff in steeper terrain. I decided to dig a quick pit on a NE facing slope at 8300ft because I was curious about the extent of PWL at that elevation in the mid canyon. The pit revealed similar structures to higher elevation slopes of the same aspect, the main difference was the the PWL was only about 3 inches deep as opposed to a foot plus at higher elevations. That being said I have seen large avalanches triggered on slopes with a inch of faceted snow at the ground. I still got a collapse walking up the steep test slope to dig the pit. We skied the E-NE facing part of the Nipple and got a large collapse on my first turn but the pitch of the slope was not enough to avalanche. Saw my friends Drew Hardesty and Bo Torrey on top of the Nipple. They continued on the ridge towards Wilson and triggered a large avalanche from a 1000 ft away on the N facing Wilson Headwall. Things are down right sketchy right now and I’m not trusting any steep slopes with old snow underlying them. South facing, low angle or low elevation slopes will work for now.
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