January 1
Avalanches crossing the road postponed the opening of Little Cottonwood, this morning. We'd planned on a tour there and I was on the bus with one partner, in line waiting. Friends persuaded us to go up BCC and we got offa the bus.
Repeated yesterday's tour,
in Willow.
Having slid out most of West Monitor north facing yesterday and knowing safe sking could be found, we headed there, finding another group, seemingly intent on cornice removal, in fact, what was left of the New Year cornice.
A pissing match ensued and we snaked um on the run.
Weather:
It was a bluebird for most of the day with some high clouds and winds increasing from the south viewed on the higher peaks in the afternoon.
Three from the other group followed, first removing the little cornice looker's right of the tracks.
This fellow was none to happy on the ridge, complaining about not following some book and a lack of etiquette.
Snow:
There's a total of around twenty inches since the 28 th along the upper elevation park City ridges. I has seen some wind effect from the westerlies, most pronounced from the northwesterlies in West Monitor and less so in the other bowls traveled through. The snow has seen some settlement with the weakest layer at the interface between all the new snow and the old crusted surface. We found little unstable snow, with cornice drops producing nothing more than sluffing, however the word was that another slide was produced in west Monitor east facing with a cornice drop. That cornice viewed early in the day was perhaps the size of a box car and a concerted effort was required to drop it.
Some of the south facing received enough sun to have a zipper crust in the late afternoon.
Not wanting to continue pissing over a ski hill, we moved on, later joined by another person, who'd followed us and information received, the group was working on the very large cornice, barely seen in the picture looker's right with the aspen branch point.
Apparently successful, resulting in another slide.
Bottom Line:
Snow was mostly stable with either a significant wind lad on a shallow pack or a big thump required to produce anything other than a surface slide. Increasing winds will likely produce yet another round of drifting prior to the next storm.
Next storm on the way?