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Avalanche: Uintas

Observer Name
Observation Date
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Avalanche Date
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Region
Uintas
Location Name or Route
Western Uintas
Elevation
Unknown
Aspect
Trigger
Unknown
Avalanche Type
Hard Slab
Weak Layer
Surface Hoar
Depth
Unknown
Width
Unknown
Vertical
Unknown
Comments

Here's a few photos from the Western Uintas that were sent in by 2 different folks. Thanks so much guys! We greatly appreciate the submissions!

Looks like most of the activity involving the Jan. 8th surface hoar (SH) has been on mid & high elevation slopes facing N, NE & E. The SH has certainly come alive in the last week & we've heard of numerous human triggered avalanches failing in a variety of forms. SH is notoriously tricky, and the layer continues to earn it's reputation. Avalanches have been failing mid slope & many of the slides have been on pretty low angle terrain too.

Looking around the Uintas today, the surface hoar is preserved almost everywhere. The determining factor seams to be the crust and it's varied strength. Unfortunately, I have a feeling this layer will continue to catch people off gaurd this weekend. Once we really start adding a load to it (in the form of significant water/storm snow), things will get very interesting.

Coordinates