November 30
Porter Fork to Silver Bell ridge.
Elevations, slope angles and aspects
6200-9700', angles over 35°, north facing aspects
Snow conditions
2-4" at the trailhead with amounts increasing to an optimistic 20" in the upper bowl(14-16" common).
Mid elevations, off trail, are brushy, best to not.
Layering is dissolving into facets, sandboxing was common in the upper bowl making trail breaking a bit slow.
Shallow snow requires careful skiing for obstacle avoidance, although it remains supportable with a wide platform.
Weather
Partly cloudy skies, light wind with very cool temperatures in the shade.
Avalanche activity
Ski cutting produced a long running sluff in the dog leg next to Silver Bell slabs.
It gouged into older snow layering, running a hundred feet or so.
Evaluation
Very weak stable snow pack. Sluffing was the only observed instability.
© wowasatch.com