Craig — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:39:50 -0600

Special Announcement

Thank you… thank you… thank you. Thanks to everyone who was involved with or helped support this program. Of course, huge thanks to Ted Scroggin from the Evanston Ranger District for being the man with the plan and for all his timely and accurate snow and avalanche observations and for helping to educate countless riders and skiers alike. Ted is such an enormous asset to the community and I couldn’t pull this off without his help.

Also, the Utah Avalanche Center wants to recognize the incredible support from both the Evanston and Heber/Kamas Ranger Districts. We appreciate all you do for us and look forward to next season as we continue strengthening our partnership. Furthermore, thanks to my good colleagues at the Avalanche Center. In particular, big thanks to Trent Meisenheimer for all his hard work with our Avy Essentials class, helping out with both the Uinta and Skyline programs, and for all the positive energy he brings to the table.

In addition, big thanks to Fred Hayes and all the staff at Utah State Parks for being such awesome partners, helping to fund this and other snowmobile specific avalanche advisory programs, ultimately saving many lives. The support from our good friends at Tri-City Performance in partnership with Polaris and Wellers Recreation in partnership with Ski-Doo is simply amazing. Your sleds enable us to get into more terrain, see more snow and ultimately issue more precise forecasts along with providing critical outreach. Also, thanks to everyone from the Park City Powder Cats. The strong working partnership and information sharing conduit forged the past few years should be a model for all organizations in this business… thanks guys and gals!

Finally, thanks to all of you who consistently help this program, in particular the Utah Snowmobile Association, Dan Gardiner and the Boondockers crew, along with the Thunderstruck posse. Whether attending or organizing fundraisers, lending a hand installing beacon training sites or sharing your avalanche insights and experience, I’m grateful for all the support… y’all rock!

Current Conditions

The western Uinta snowpack has remained shallow all season. Click

here

to link to the regions Sno-Tel sites for snow and temperature updates.

Recent Activity

Click here to view recent observations.

Threat #1

Threat:	None
Where:
Probability:	None
Size/Class:
Trend:	None over the next 24hrs.

Well, this is the end of the line for the 2011-12 western Uinta forecast season. No I’m not going to Disneyland; I’m actually headed to the Caribbean. But in the absence of my avalanche advisory here are a few pointers to help you make your own snowpack and avalanche danger evaluations.

In general you can count on several types of avalanche conditions in the spring. Whenever we get a storm the avalanche danger will rise, as the new snow might not bond well to the existing hard, slick crust it falls on. As always, recent avalanche activity as well as cracking and collapsing of the snowpack are dead giveaways the snow is unstable. Even if these clues don’t present themselves, be sure to do some tests on smaller slopes that are similar in aspect, elevation and slope angle to what you want to ride on. Choose test slopes that have minimal consequences, especially after a significant snowfall. A well placed slope cut will give you a good feel for the stability of the slope. If there is much wind associated with the storm or if there is snow available for transport before it gets cooked into place, expect to find potentially unstable wind slabs on leeward slopes.

Also, when the sun first comes out and the snow goes through its initial rapid warm up, avalanches will be likely on steep slopes. You can expect the usual round of wet slides, but fortunately new snow instabilities tend to stabilize rather quickly in the spring due to the warm temperatures. When the snowpack goes several nights without a good solid refreeze, deep wet slab avalanches are possible, especially in steep, rocky terrain. Given this year’s unusually weak basal snow, I’d expect to see large avalanches breaking to the ground. These will be tree snapping, bone shattering, sled crushing avalanches… you get the picture. During the heat of the day you’ll want to get off of and out from underneath steep slopes and avoid terrain traps such as gullies or steep road cuts where cement-like debris will pile up very deeply.

Cornices may break back much further than you’d think. I’d continue to give these unpredictable pieces of snow the respect they deserve and avoid messing around with them, especially when the strong springtime sun is beating down on them and they’re feeling like an ant under a magnifying glass.

The information in this advisory expires 24 hours after the date and time posted. See you at the annual Boondockers/Brewvies Fundraiser in September!

If you’re getting out and about and trigger an avalanche or see anything interesting please drop me an email at

craig@utahavalanchecenter.org

or call 801-231-2170

Overall Danger Rating

None

Bottom Line Solid:

0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0

Bottom Line Pockets:

0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0

Threat 1 Solid:

0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0

Threat 1 Pockets:

0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0

Threat 2 Solid:

0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0

Threat 2 Pockets:

0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0

Threat 3 Solid:

0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0

Threat 3 Pockets:

0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0

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The information in this advisory expires 24 hours after the date and time posted. See you at the annual Boondockers/Brewvies Fundraiser in September!

If you’re getting out and about and trigger an avalanche or see anything interesting please drop me an email at

craig@utahavalanchecenter.org

or call 801-231-2170

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The western Uinta snowpack has remained shallow all season. Click

here

to link to the regions Sno-Tel sites for snow and temperature updates.

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Click here to view recent observations.

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Utah Avalanche Center - Uintas