cold windy day on the plateau. prevailing winds 20-30 from the west have been at work for days. last snow was christmas eve/day dec 24-25. settled amount on miller flats interval board was 10 cm today. total depth is 65 cm at the same site. upper exposed terrain wind hammered/scoured, somehow still finding some available snow to load on east/northeast facing slopes. these were sensitive to a stomp, was able to easily intitate wind slabs up to 12' thick, failing on lower density snow on top of old even harder slabs. would suspect that even deeper slabs will be active in highest terrain at least for the next couple of days. temps got up to -12 C at 1300 today, hat and coat day for sure. only natural activity was the usual cornice falls along wedding ring ridge, but no other activity seen.hero skiing with 6' on firm base in sheltered areas, nasty wind slab skiing near ridges, sastrugi and bushes on windward side. overall plateau has pack gaining strength without the faceted demons widespread that plague the central wasatch. easy for skier or snomachine to trigger new wind slabs in upper pack, and possiblity remains that some steep northfacing pockets could be harboring deeper layer of facets at ground. snomachiners now have a sufficient base to enable wider travel, wind slabs will become more stubborn and tricky in next little while. forgot camera, attached is phone camera of fx from ski cut, poor quality, sorry
