January 10
Alta guard station, Cardiff keyhole, Cardiac ridge, Ivory Flakes, East Mineral fork, BCC.
Elevations, slope angles and aspects
7200-10600', angles over 35°, all aspects.
Snow conditions
South facing was mostly crusted, other aspects variable with scattered wind drifting.
I was hoping to get on the actual ridge on "Cardiac ridge", thought it would go clean.
X indicates where I stopped because I found a shallow wind drift over rain crust over facet. Bad form to take a ride.
Several isolated collapses in shallow snow were felt in the Cardiac low angled and on the approach up Ivory.
East Mineral, scoured near the ridge, had soft and settled.
Ski cuts initiated
a narrow sluff in the upper section. It ran on the "rain crust" without spreading.
Down lower,
it wanted to sluff on the steeper areas but, not quite enough angle and or weakness.
The ice lingers on the road exit, now covered by a few inches of snow. Had to walk out the bottom.
Weather
Clear to partly cloudy skies, light wind from the west, increasing up high.
Evaluation
New batch of mostly shallow wind drifts and surface sluffing were the instabilities in the area.
Would expect the sluffing to continue and more drifting from the wind experienced.
© wowasatch.com