ROUTE: Alta, Cardiff, Mineral, Big Cottonwood Canyon.

WEATHER: Mostly sunny to around noon when clouds started to roll in. Snow flurries started later with minor accumulations. Temperatures remained cold out of the direct sun. Some moderate southerly gusts occurring in the afternoon along the ridges.

AVALANCHE ACTIVITY: Sluffing from slope cuts on the steepest slopes on a number of aspects and elevations down to around 7000 feet was observed. Results from helicopter explosive testing produced one larger slab avalanche which broke into old snow in east facing Mineral Fork. It was on a steep convex rollover at around 9400 feet in elevation. The crown was around 2 to 3 feet deep with one portion possibly up to 5 feet. It ran about 400 feet and was around 150 feet wide.

COLLAPSING: None.

CRACKING: Minor above other tracks within wind affected snow.

WIND EFFECT: Minor drifting along the upper ridges.

NEW SNOW & SNOW SURFACE: The snow surface remains mostly soft powder snow with a little sun affected snow on southerly aspects.

COMMENTS: As expected, the new snow wasn’t quite as sensitive as on Monday. Sluffing still occurred but a slightly steeper slope was needed. No major slab formation was noted. Older snow underlying the newest snow should be monitored over the next week to see if areas with minor faceting will present any problems once more snow is added on top.

BOTTOM LINE: A mostly MODERATE danger mostly for sluffing was observed in the areas I traveled today . I would expect that areas that didn’t receive as much snow would have a lower danger.