Observation: Back Bowls

Observation Date

4/28/2026

Observer Name

Hardesty and Anderson

Region

Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Brighton Perimeter » Back Bowls

Location Name or Route

Brighton back bowls

Weather

Sky

Scattered

Precipitation

Light Snowfall

Wind Speed

Calm

Weather Comments

In spring, our old boss Bruce Tremper loved to relay what his 93 year old Czech mother-in-law used to say. "Spring es ze fight between summer and winter." And so it was today. More sun than expected but light snowfall by 2pm. And then back to partly cloudy. No wind; still cool in the shade and when the sun was obscured.

Snow Characteristics

New Snow Depth

12"

New Snow Density

Medium

Snow Surface Conditions

Powder

Damp

Snow Characteristics Comments

More sun than expected, but you'll find excellent skiing and riding on due north facing over the next couple of days. Off aspects went off and will have a breakable crust on Wednesday.

Red Flags

Recent Avalanches

Rapid Warming

Red Flags Comments

People skiied/rode everything under the sun. All we noted were plenty of small, natural and human-triggered, dry and damp loose sluffs in the steeper terrain today. Pics below. None looked large enough to bury a person, but plenty big to knock you off your feet in consequential terrain.

Comments

Hand pits along the skin track elicited two shears within the storm(s) snow - one 3" down; another 8" down and a good bond to the old snow surface 12" down (melt-freeze crust). The inter/intra storm weaknesses will rapidly stabilize, but there are reports of facets above the crusts in high northerly terrain that been the failure plane in recent (the last two days) avalanches. This deserves further investigation; otherwise lacking wind, loose wet and loose wet will be the primary concerns.

Coordinates

Observation: Back Bowls

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