Your correspondent spent a brilliant powder day this week with Snowbird’s snow safety director Kami to get the latest on spring safety on another 500+ inch year.

As spring takes over the slopes of Little Cottonwood, just where do the avalanche dangers lie? Well, outside the bomb throwing and route running they do in the mornings in addition to the RACs (remote avalanche control towers) there are a number of factors to pay attention to.

“Mostly we’re looking at pinwheel rollers that you find on sun facing slopes,” said Kami with years of avalanche study and mitigation behind him.

“Cliff faces with their steep angles and dark color tend to warm first and it fans out from there” he adds. They also pay attention to how the snowpack settles. It might not be obvious but as spring takes hold with warmer temperatures snow condenses. Interestingly enough this stabilizes the terrain to a great extent.

There are other hazards that aren’t as obvious. Cloudy conditions can actually increase avalanche potential. Explains Kami, “When a cloud ceiling descends on Twin Peaks (just west of Snowbird’s summit at Hidden Peak) it can hold in temperatures, much like a green house.” This can change things rapidly in as little as an hour or two. This is one of the reasons why you’ll find him out on the slopes checking conditions throughout the day.

Canyon blog tagged along under the auspices of learning from two experts, but really it was as much an opportunity to drop into some steep late season powder on a cold morning down Tower 3 run and another to remain secret for selfish reasons. We were joined by Tina B. Snowbird’s ski patrol director.

According to these two Snowbird insiders the resort plans to be open this season till Memorial Day weekend. And remember, Alta still has another couple weeks till April 20th.

So how did the day end? Well, for your thorough investigative journalist it was the patio just below the tram loading station where “Old Red” has gained its new life as a bar. Did Canyon Blog want to stop there for a pint and some tunes on your behalf? As the photos attest, let’s just say investigative journalism never sleeps.

Stay tuned for post ski updates regarding Alta’s plans for next year coming on the heels of another great season. Till then thanks for reading and keep skiing…