February 7
Area:
BCC
Location:
Alta guard station to Cardiff to Mill B south to Mineral Fork.
Elevations, slope angles and aspects:
6800’-10600’?, angles to 40° all aspects but northwest.
Avalanche activity:
Nope.
Slopes skied:
Little Superior buttress(black knob) ne facing, Mill B south from Cardiac pass and Mineral Fork.
Snow surface and conditions:
South facing had a mostly supportable crust, firm on the slopes. The flatter areas still had some old wind blown powder scattered around. Crust was softening by around 10:30 am. Cardiff was crusted in all but a few patches, with wind pack powder. The crust was from 1-4” thick, with underlying faceted snow above another crust. Pole probing indicated a solid base. There was some sand boxing mixed in with the hard to hold an edge. I did get cracking and a colapse on the traverse through the thermal spot near Cardiac pass.
Mineral is a different story. The recent winds hadn’t got at Mineral as much, with a skin rather than a crust. Mid elevations were barely supportable on the north facing. Lower elevation were damp but, ski cutting did not produce the gouging sluffs on the west face I tried in the late afternoon.
Weather:
Partly cloudy to overcast. Mild temperatures. Some wind from the west, gusting to perhaps 15 mph later in the afternoon up high.
Snow pit:
Evaluation:
Snow is currently stable. I found no areas with sensitive wind drifting. Concerns about wet activity were limited to afternoon exit and ski cutting produced minimal results. Hazard would increase with significant snow and wind. I’d expect the hazard in Cardiff to be dependent on bonding, old with new and some patchy faceted pockets. Mineral would have the same issues until an inch or two of water weight accumulates, then the hazard would increase to include collapse failure and related faceted snow issues.
More water weight may induce full depth slides
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