December 21

Alta guard station-Days Fork-Spruces campround-Wilson glade-Millcreek

Elevations, slope angles and aspects

6400-10000, angles over 35°, all aspects

Snow conditions

Surface hoar was found at lower and mid elevations. A few nice feathers were observed near water sources.

ski-heli-free-hoar

South facing had a melt freeze crust. Upper elevations are a mixed bag of wind damaged surfaces and settled powder capped with recrystalized.

Avalanche activity

A slide in Days Fork

days-one

was triggered by dropping a small cornice

days-two

on a rocky, shallow snow pack in upper Days fork, yesterday.

kimbrough

Wilson fork

wilson-ridge

An old slide was discovered in Wilson fork. The slide ran during the December 12-13 storm.

It encompassed the entire north facing drainage off the Wilson ridge, the ene facing Wilson chutes and the ne facing Wilson glade.

I'm guessing over a quarter mile wide.

Weather

Partly cloudy skies, mild temperatures and light to moderate wind from the west.

Snow pit

wilson-glade-snow-profile

Evaluation

Mostly stable snow was found in the area traveled through. No cracking, no collapsing. for the third day.

Tension from the rapid load of fresh snow last weekend has eased with settlement.

Would expect some lingering instability from recent wind drifting on faceted old snow surfaces.

Weather guessers have a storm on the way so, new snow instabilities would dependent on bonding of new snow on old surfaces, many of which have small grained facets.

The wild card: overloading buried weak layers which haven't avalanched and bed surfaces from the mid December slide cycle on slopes that did.

back

December journal

© wowasatch.com