The number one clue for avalanches is avalanches. Let's start with a summary of results from ski areas and highways. The snowpack in ski areas is different from what we see in the backcountry this time of year but can still offer us clues about what to expect. Notes about weather and snow transport are particularly helpful. If ski areas are triggering wind slabs, we should expect to trigger them in the backcountry. In the Salt Lake area, snow safety teams reported upslope winds in Little Cottonwood were building cornices and transporting snow into Big Cottonwood …

Originally published in this winter's hardcopy issue of Ascent, the Backcountry Snow Journal Not long ago, I heard a story from an old colleague of mine. It was his first year as an avalanche professional and he was out in the field with his supervisor. The two of them approached the top of the ridge and peered onto the slope below. It was snowing and visibility was not good. Still, they had seen avalanches run for most of the day. “I’ve never seen this slide before,” said the old hand, “why don’t you go first?” My pal shrugged his …

January 7, 2017 Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center Issues Avalanche Warning for Northern and Central Utah, Warns of Roof-Avalanches and Low Elevation Avalanche Danger. SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – Expected heavy snow and strong winds will create dangerous avalanche conditions over the next several days. Natural and human triggered slides will be certain on many steep slopes where the danger is expected to reach HIGH or EXTREME. Those without expert level avalanche skills should avoid being on or underneath steep slopes…or avoid the backcountry …

Insert Podcast here In this 2nd podcast for the Utah Avalanche Center, we interview Brett "Kowboy" Kobernik. We explore his background, forecasting style, and what makes the "mad scientist" of the UAC tick. Brett talks about his experience as a snowboard heli-ski guide in Alaska, as the inventor of the Voile split-board, and as a long time avalanche educator and backcountry ski guide. Kowboy started with the UAC in the Salt Lake City office in the winter of 2004/2005 and moved to Spring City, Utah in the …

I cribbed the name from an essay by Iain Stewart-Patterson, a mountain guide andfaculty staff member of Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia. His dissertation:The Role of Intuition in the Decision Process of Canadian Ski Guides. You can find his essay in a recent issue of The Avalanche Review, the publication of the American Avalanche Association here(page 18). I imagine most of you reading this are familiar with the very close call in the Birthday Chutes from last Monday. I've added Mark White's photo below and the full accident investigation reportby Mark …

Below, you'll see the trends of the danger rose from Monday through Friday. An Avalanche Watch was issued Sunday afternoon. This evolved into a Special Avalanche Advisory by Monday morning along with a HIGH avalanche danger. Weather synopsis: A three-tiered storm arrived from the northwest last Saturday night, lasting through early Tuesday, more than doubling the amount of snow on the ground at that time. Winds have remained generally light to moderate out of the northwest and continued to veer to the northeast as the most recent storm moved through and dived south. …

The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) is implementing a revised policy for backcountry closures in Little Cottonwood Canyon this winter to help get SR 210 open quickly and safely, keep it open, and to reduce the likelihood of backcountry travelers exposed to avalanche explosives work. UDOT has thousands of people waiting on them to reduce the avalanche hazard and safely open the road and the sighting of a single person or even evidence of a personnear their artillery targets can delay opening for hours. For this reason, they will be enforcing a complete closure of …