Bowman Fork12/28/2022 Today I decided to skip the Cottonwood Canyons junkshow and give lower elevation Millcreek a go. It had snowed up to 20 inches in the upper reaches of the Cottonwoods yesterday and last night but the snow/rain line didn’t drop below 7000ft until last night. I’ve been lucky before going to the lower elevations after it had received rain then snow. The theory was that the saturated base was on its way to freezing up and also seizing up the weak layer, which made it safer. I started at 5900ft in elevation where there was about 4 inches of dense snow and the base was saturated, when I got above 7000ft there was 6 inches of medium density snow on a spongy base. Once I made it above 8000ft there was 10 inches of medium density snow on a soft, supportable spongy base. Just what I was looking for! I think these lower elevations are going to be mostly stable when they freeze up completely but upper elevations that did not get saturated are still suspect, especially with more loading predicted in the next few days. I don’t think this storm added enough weight to tip the scales but if we get a rapid loading event all bets are off and it would probably be prudent to back off steep slopes on the N end of the compass until proven otherwise.
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Butler- Plan B12/22/2022
The original plan for the day was to go ski the E/SE facing slopes off the top of Mt Raymond. 12 plus hours of strong W/ NW winds and about 6 inches of new snow changed our minds. Those consistent strong winds would’ve taken copious amounts of dry snow and transferd it to the leeward slopes, (ie E,SE facing slopes) at the higher elevations. We decided to scrap that plan and stay at lower more protected elevations and terrain. We skied the Nipple first, the top was wind scoured to the old surface but the main run had 5 to 6 inches of surfy graupel mixed with medium density snow. The key today was to find slopes that were not scoured and also not loaded with windslabs and upside down snow. Sometimes it’s a fine line but if you keep moving around to different aspects eventually you might find something good. After the Nipple, which is E facing, we moved on to the big SE facing slide path off the top of Wilson Peak. The top bowl looked wind loaded and slabby but a 100ft down out of the wind is where we entered and skied it. Windslabs, in my opinion, are the easiest weakness in the snow to recognize and avoid. You're not going to trigger windslabs remotely from long distances like a PWL. Ski cuts and avoidance are pretty common sense remedies. We also skied due S off the Alexander/Butler ridgeline late in the day. The S facing was still dry and it’s hard to catch this line in good conditions but when you do you’ll walk away with a shit eating grin on your face. The hazard today was easily managed with some thought and patience and I would think the windslabs will become less reactive with time.tler
Broads Fork12/18/2022
Since it had been 45 hours plus since the last of the 66 inch storm , we thought it be a good idea to look at the big E/NE facing slopes in Broads. We went with the thought that we could bail at anytime if things seemed suspect. When we arrived at the overlook we saw zero avalanche activity in Bonkers and what looked like storm snow sluffs on the Diving Board under the Twin. We took the safest route to the bottom of the DB and got a big collapse on the flats, then we walked up on the apron and dug a snow pit. The pit revealed a thick 4 foot deep one finger slab with a foot of healing facets at the ground. After the snow pit we decided overhead hazard was our worst enemy because there’s no way we were going to trigger a avalanche walking up the slope.
We decided to ski lower angle slopes under the Blue Ice to start off. We weren’t too stoked on the sun hitting the rockslabs above our heads on the DB after not seeing the sun for a week or so. After a few low angle runs, the sun left the overhead hazard and we ventured out on the DB. Once we hit the toe of the sluff we realized it wasn’t a sluff but a glide avalanche that had massive blocks of ice in it. Some of the ice chunks were refrigerator size. At that point in time, we knew that the overhead hazard was the main concern, because if thousands of pounds of snow and ice didn’t trigger an avalanche in the apron there’s no way in hell we could. My thoughts are, the wind hammered high alpine is coming around fast and the more protected mid elevation are still problematic. We appreciate the guys that broke trail to the overlook and bailed on Bonkers, there’s no way in hell would I have gone up there today too. There was zero reason to do an ECT. I know it’s all the rage , but if thousands of pounds of ice and snow hitting a slope from above at speed doesn’t cause a slab avalanche a few people sure the hell won’t, I’d think . Cardiff fork12/16/2022 After 5 straight days of snowfall, the sun finally came out today. I figured it was a good time to see what happened in the Cardiac area. Alta received 66 inches in the storm, mostly light density and minimal wind affect. We started in BCC and by the time we got past Ivory Flakes the trail breaking was almost waist deep. We did not see any evidence of deep slab avalanches on the buried PWL only new snow sluffs and a decent storm slab avalanche in Shoots and Ladders. Skiing lower angle terrain was a bit slow but I usually don’t go out the day after 6 feet of new snow and try to punch steep lines on the N end of the compass with a lingering weak layer buried underneath. We had a few large collapses while breaking trail that made our decision seem like a good one. I think the upper cottonwoods are definitely likely to stabilize quickly, but I try not to push the boundaries too much after such a big storm. The outlying areas such as the PC Ridgeline and Millcreek are still suspect in my mind as are the lower elevation polar aspects that don’t have a strong slab over the PWL. This is the best start to winter I’ve seen in a long time and it’s not even winter yet.
Bulter Fork12/12/2022
Today we went up Butler Fork in mid BCC. There was a foot of light density snow at the trailhead and skies were partly cloudy and not snowing. By the time we had gained a couple thousand feet of vertical it was socked in and snowing fat flakes, with very little wind. Our first couple runs were on The Nipple, an E facing slope at 9400ft on the border of Mill D and Butler Fork. The snow was knee deep, light density, blower powder. However, the powder was sitting on snow that had been impacted by the wind before the storm. It had raised old tracks and made the bed surface a little harder and not as smooth as I’d like, but I’m kinda picky. We climbed up to Wilson Peak which is around 9600ft in elevation and SE facing. As we climbed out of the bottom of the Nipple and up Wilson it was snowing hard, like 4 inches an hour. I also think the SE face of Wilson had snow loaded into it by yesterdays winds. By the time we were ripping our skins there seemed to be almost 2 ft of blower powder on the slope, almost to the point of it being suspect, but no slab so we decided to ski it. The SE face off of Wilson Peak is an avalanche path that starts off pretty steep with 1000ft of open skiing with aspens lining the path. The slope was steep enough to make for great skiing. A little less of a pitch would have made for slow skiing in deep snow. There was plenty of snow to create high avalanche hazard on the steep, E, W and N end of the compass and we avoided all polar aspects that were steep enough to slide. If we get much wind all bets are off, being that there is so much light density snow for transport and more snow on the way tonight and tomorrow.
Cabin Run12/9/2022 This is more of a explanation of the thinking process that goes into accessing individual slopes than a actual observation. Skiing the Cabin Run in Millcreek seems like a good example. We headed up Millcreek not knowing exactly what to expect, I hadn’t been there since the recent storms and rise in avalanche hazard. We knew that steep N through E had a bad set up with a slab sitting on a weak layer of facets but not sure to what extent this was occuring in Millcreek. When I go skiing I usually don’t have a single objective, just an idea of the general area I want to travel in. We started the day at the Bowman Trail at an elevation of 6000ft. We did our first run at 8000ft in a N facing avalanche runout gully. We noted a rain crust/heat crust buried under the new snow up to about 7200ft, with loose faceted snow underneath but no slab or load. We moved on after that heading towards the Cabin Run. We walked the ridge line from Toots To Boots past Depth Hoar Bowl to the top of the Cabin Run. In my opinion, the steep shady wind loaded E and NE facing slopes dropping into Alexander Basin where suspect and I didn’t feel the need to test them. Once we got to the Cabin Run, an open NW facing slope at 10,000ft with a 32 to 35 degree angle starting zone, we saw a whole different set up. The starting zone of the slope had been stripped during the two days of strong W, SW winds last week and didn’t have much of a slab or load. It did have some crust capping the loose facets at the ground but no slab/no worries. We proceeded to center punch the slope a few times and put our uptrack on the wind stripped side of the slope. Just because you want to ski a specific slope doesn’t mean it wants skied by you and flexibility is key. We exited out Pole Canyon which is a narrow, long N facing gully with lots of obstacles. The ski out was pleasant until we hit the rain/heat crust, then it got real. Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is each slope has to be separately assessed for hazard, taking into account snow pack structure, aspect, slope angle and also consequences if a slide does occur. I prefer wide open slopes with no obstacles in the run out for this reason. Digging a snow pit and making a broad based decision isn’t alway the best answer for accessing individual slopes. , I’m constantly probing the snow pack with my pole and digging hasty pits throughout the day to get a better understanding of the terrain I’m traveling in. Hope that wasn’t too long winded. I’m no snow professional, just a skier but I’ve been doing it for a while and learned a few things in my travels.
Happy Birthday Mark!12/8/2022 Today is Marks Birthday which is why it is snowing. Mark and I first started skiing together in November 1992- 30 years ago! Since thern it has been skiing, biking, camping, travel, music, dogs, partners, kids, life. Happy birthday my friend. May you be making tracks in to your old age. (some photos courtesy of Marla) No No Name Bowl12/5/2022
I hadn’t been to the PC Ridgeline in a while so decided it was a good day to go. I wanted to see if No Name Bowl had avalanched during this lasts weeks avy cycle. It kinda looked like no one had been that way in a while. I stopped on the knob to rip my skins and skied down the wide, low angle ridge to the top of No Name. When I looked over the edge there were zero signs of avalanching. I didn’t really want to mess with it too much. It looked fat and primed to slide and I didn’t want to create a mess. I proceeded to put my skins back on and started hiking out when I realized I had triggered a large avalanche remotely from skiing down the low angle ridge. No No Name is a steep E facing slope at 9400ft with a steep roll over at the top. The slide was 2ft deep, 350ft in width and ran through the aspens, snapping good sized trees as it went. It ran 800ft vertical and way out on to the flats. Pretty much full track. The slide was a hard slab, that left only 8 inches of facets resting on the dirt, but once again it did not clean out the weak layer. I determined that I triggered the slide from almost 350ft away. Low slope angle is the only answer to the problem right now and I’m gonna stick to that until convinced otherwise.
Butler Basin12/3/2022
Today we decided to go up Butler Fork and ski some low angle. The new snow from Thursday night had changed from cold light density smoke to settled, medium density powder due to warming temperatures and a warm SW wind. We were walking along the ridge above Soldier Peak and I mentioned to Pete, my partner in this website, that I had never been able to trigger a slide from walking this ridge. Two steps later I remotely triggered a hard slab avalanche from 5 or 6 feet away. The collapse on the ridge was loud and powerful and the ensuing hard slab avalanche was nasty, crashing through the trees and willows, and would most certainly have ruined your day and possibly your life. The slide was on a N-NE facing slope with around a 38 degree angle, 250ft in width and 3 foot crown in the deepest part. The slide did not clean out the facets at the bed surface. As weight keeps stacking up on this PWL the slides might get harder to trigger but larger and more connected when they do go.
Took a look at the Wilson Chutes and the Glade as well. The only activity noted was new snow slides in the Chutes and off the headwall. I wouldn’t touch those slopes with a 10ft pole. Patience is gonna be key for a bit. In my opinion, at this point in time getting away with a run on a steep slope with the underlying PWL isn’t worth the risk. It’s only December and there’s plenty of time to hit the big lines with a long season still ahead. Cardiff fork12/2/2022 Headed up to Ivory Flakes today from BCC. There was about 5 inches of light density snow sitting on an inch of graupel at the trail head at around 7000ft and the depth increased to 8 to 10 at 9600ft. As I suspected, the two days of strong SW winds had created stubborn wind slabs in most exposed terrain and last nights storm had covered them up. The snow was not as reactive as Tuesday, but the hazard remains real. We still experienced a bit of cracking and collapsing but nothing like the other day. Now we have a weak layer that is buried under windslabs and the trigger point would most likely be around rocky features or where the wind slab is thinner. This set up makes things hard to predict. Si cuts aren’t the answer and neither are previous tracks on the slope. This PWL buried under windslabs will allow a person to get well out on the slope with no signs of instability until a thin spot in the slab is triggered then a large and connected avalanche is possible. We did not note any avalanches in the entire drainage except off the Ivory Rock Slabs, which means no clean out. Low angle skiing is your best bet and I gotta say the low angle was awesome today. Fast and plenty of fun. You could probably get away with hitting some steeper terrain, but if you wanna grow old like me getting away with shit isn’t the answer.
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January 2024
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