December 31Area:
Porter Fork and Neffs
Location:
Porter to West Porter to Thaynes to Neffs.
Elevations, slope angles and aspects:
6200’-9700’-5000’, angles to 40°+. All aspects except south facing.
Avalanche activity:
Surface sluffing over 35°.
Slopes skied:
Upper Neffs north chute, north slide path and the lower northwest facing west of the slide path out Neffs.
Snow surface and conditions:
Lower elevations had widespread surface hoar forming
Upper elevations out of the wind had recrystalized snow over a variable and dissolving rime crust. There was a somewhat widespread and variable thickness wind skin-crust in exposed terrain even down at mid elevations in Neffs. Snow totals vary from 20-30”.
Weather:
Partly cloudy early in the day with clouds increasing in the afternoon. The increased clouds also brought wind from the west southwest, with speeds only around 15 mph.
Snow pit:
Evaluation:
Snow is stable. The snow pack is rotting into faceted snow, with a coupla crusts holding things together. At times, tails of the wide skis were falling through into lower layering. The crust facet sandwich continues to dominate sheers in stability testing but, no load in the area traveled through.
© wowasatch.com