March 4
Area:
Cardiff-Mineral from Alta guard station.
Elevations, slope angles and aspects:
7000-10200’, angles over 35°, all aspects.
Avalanche activity:
Impressive slide on the shoulder of Baldy, explosive triggered
before
during
dusting the groomers
zoomed crown
rock slab stability testing
All others have been previously reported. Of note, the bomb crater on High Ivory had stress fractures radiating out from the hole to the ridge extending over to the smaller bomb triggered slide and forming some good sized crevices on the High Ivory ridge where the cornice pulled away from the ridge line.
Slopes skied:
Skier’s right power line ridge, High Ivory and east Mineral out Mineral fork.
Snow surface and conditions:
Snow was crusted on south facing, but it was a zipper and melted in the am allowing some turns prior to the late morning into afternoon cooking. Wet activity was observed on south facing by around 10:30 am continuing around the compass, with activity noted on Holy Toledo west facing by around 2 pm. The shady side also heated, with trail breaking a chore on mid elevation northeast and east facing by noon. Northwest facing remained cool into the afternoon.
Weather:
Can you say spring? It was a cooker.
Evaluation:
Explosive triggered avalanche on Baldy indicate instabilities remain with a large enough trigger. I would expect the potential of human triggering has lessoned to a localized hazard in areas with a lingering shallow snow pack under the recent slab loading. Continued warm temperatures will allow an increased creep rate and potential remains for an un lucky soul to initiate a large slide if the right spot is chosen..© wowasatch.com