December 22
Spruces, Reynolds, Freds, Big Water, Spruces.
Elevations, slope angles and aspects
7500-9200', angles over 35°, all aspects.
Snow conditions
1-3" new snow, somewhat inverted at upper elevations because of wind.
New snow was well bonded to the old surface.
Isolated collapsing, localized cracking in the drifts, which were mainly along the ridges but, also scattered around on lee aspect slopes.
Sheltered and shady retain support with good skiing.
Weather
Clearing skies, cool temperatures. Wind was from the ene, gusting to 20+ mph along the ridge.
It was getting down into drainages.
Snow pit
Evaluation
Must be getting old since, I stayed low.
Gusty wind from the east, swirling around terrain features has added instability.
Since it only snowed a few inches, I'd expect some, mostly shallow, active wind drifts, especially at upper elevations.
Weather guessers have warming temperatures for a few days so...add a little wet activity potential
© wowasatch.com