February 8

Grizzly Gulch, Silver Fork, east bowl shoulder, west bowl, Binks to Alta

polly-runout

Elevations, slope angles and aspects

8300-10k+, angles over 35°, all aspects.

Snow conditions

4-6" new snow during the day over about 10" recent snow.

New snow was medium density, slightly inverted from density changes related to wind.

Scattered cracking was observed within those density changes, no collapsing.

Ski cuts produced surface sluffing and several soft slabs, depths up to about a foot.

Neither the sluffs or fractures were running very far in produced locations.

ridge-drifts

Widespread wind drifting along lee ridge lines, cross loading evident on mainly east facing aspects.

Weather

Snow, heavy at times with wind from the west, gusting over 20 mph, strongest wind near ridges. Moderate temperatures.

Evaluation

Instability observed was within new snow layering but, best not tease the cat very much given the size.

Would expect continued new snow instability.

Potential for deeper layer activation in wind drifted areas, especially those retaining weak and shallow old snow.

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