March 2
Park City ridges
Elevations, slope angles and aspects:
7000-10000', angles over 35°, all aspects.
Avalanche activity:
Limited to sluffing within new snow
and shallow soft slabs, the result of large cornice falls. Sluffs would run some distance but, lacked much punch.
Slopes skied:
South Monitor ne facing, West Monitor ne facing, McDonalds n facing, Beartrap w facing and Peak 9870 n facing out to Spruces.
Snow conditions:
8-12" new snow right side up. Winds from the west had created some drifting along the ridge lines. Cornice kicking produced good sized drops and shallow localized fractures. Large chunks rolling downhill resulted in minimal activity. Day time heating was initiating a few rollers and did lead to surface zipper crusting, when cooled. Pesky northerly breezes added a new layer of shallow drifts on lee aspects, slabbing localized exposed areas. No activity was observed in that drifting.
Weather:
Partly cloudy to overcast skies, with occasional snow flurries. Wind from the north-northeast gusting to around 20 mph. Cool temperatures.
Evaluation:
Wind drifting and sluffs remained with in new snow. Drifting from the west wind has likely settled in place. Lingering potential of instability remains from that drifting and from the later, north wind drifts. Probably manageable by ski cutting starting zones and breakovers in suspect terrain.
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