January 6
Alta guard station, Flagstaff, Two Dogs, Main Days, Finger chutes, Spruces.
Cardiac from Main Days
Elevations, slope angles and aspects
7400'-10k+, angles over 35°, north, south and east facing aspects.
Snow conditions
2-6" new snow over a variable old surface. Wind during and following the storm did a good job of redistribution, drifting and scouring.
South facing Flagstaff was unpleasant, I used ski crampons for the ascent.
Shoulda went to Sunny bowl?
North and east facing were wind protected with scattered shallow drifts, mostly near the ridges, non-reactive to ski cutting.
Mid to lower elevation + isolated upper elevation north facing sheltered have marginal support. A hard turn could result in augering to the ground.
Otherwise, good support and good sking.
Weather
Clear skies, cool temperatures in the morning, gradual warming. Wind was lacking.
Evaluation
Good stability, isolated active drifting.
Weather guessers have a series of little storms lined up for the week so...
Future stability is dependent on snow amounts, bonding and wind.
Enough to reactivate older layering?
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