I don't have much to say today. Some periods of mountain snow beginning this evening through tomorrow. GFS says 3" or so for Alta through Wednesday and most members of the downscaled SREF are under 2.5", although 6 of the 26 members go for 3-6.5".
Nothing to get excited about.
Footage of yesterday's skier-triggered avalanche on a run known as Barrieto in Mineral Fork is below (per reports, the skier was performing a ski cut and was able to avoid harm). I'm not sure who to credit for the video or the photo below, but click here for the report on the Utah Avalanche Center site I think it is the largest skier-triggered avalanche I've seen a video of from the Wasatch Backcountry.
Below you can see the full path with the crown near the Mineral Fork – Lake Blanche Fork ridgeline to the toe in the bottom of Mineral Fork.
Debris covers a good portion of the Jeep/ATV road that switchbacks up through the base of the slide path and where there are often skin tracks heading up to Room of Doom. A long time ago, a young man who was renting an apartment from our neighbor was killed by a natural avalanche in this general area while he was snowshoeing. It was a tragic loss and I'm sure he had no idea what he was getting into on that stormy day. I didn't really know him at all, but I think of him whenever I am skiing or driving by Mineral Fork.
Climatology suggests that this time of year we are usually dealing with new-snow instabilities, wind slabs, issues related to warmth and solar heating, etc. However, thanks to our long drought, we have a persistent weak layer that is not to be trifled with.
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