Utah Avalanche Center

Lots of folks out, but most are wisely staying off steep slopes

We found 2 small avalanches in terrain above us that occured within the last 48 hours. Both were about 20-30 feet wide and broke in rocky areas with a thinner snowpack.

Needed a bit of shelter to dig a pit, with very windy and stormy conditions up higher.

Observed a couple natural soft wind slabs, 1' deep x 50' on drifted east facing slopes.

Widely varying snow depths in this area. Snow was 2 feet deep just 20 feet to the south. Much deeper snowpack on south end of Double Hill. Generally stable conditions due to a lack of significant loading. Our only areas of concern were parts of slopes at ridgelines with the added wind load that would create just enough load to cause us some concern. However, we were not worried about being at the toe of big slopes.

Deep snowpack and much more uniform in crystal size, hardness, and visual appearance than many others this season. Decent looking snowpack. Many shallower snowpacks do not look as good.