Researchers Ian McCammon and Sara Boilen are developing new tools for managing human factors for backcountry skiers and boarders. This survey asks about personal experiences with human factors and will take 7 - 8 minutes to fill out. Link is HERE.
The storm in the first 2 days of April deposited a foot-and-a-half of new snow at upper elevations in the Bear River Range, with the Tony Grove Snotel at 8400 feet reporting 17 inches of new snow containing 2.5 inches of SWE (snow water equivalent). Meanwhile, winds blowing generally from the west increased yesterday afternoon and overnight, with average wind speeds around 25 mph and gusts over 40 mph recorded at our Paris Peak weather station. Temperatures plummeted after the storm passed, and this morning they're lower than we've seen in weeks, with 19°F at Tony Grove and 12°F at 9500 feet on Paris Peak.
Not enough and too late, fresh snow from April 2 blankets the Bear River Mountains above Cache Valley. Unfortunately, the new snow will rapidly melt off the bare slopes at mid and lower elevations, making access to the fresh powder challenging.
Since all the trailheads and trails at low elevations have melted out, access to the fresh powder will be the challenge this weekend, limiting traffic in the high country. If you make it up into upper elevations, you should evaluate the snow carefully, especially in drifted terrain, since soft slab avalanches of storm snow up to 2 feet deep are possible on slopes steeper than 30 degrees. Wet avalanches entraining saturated storm snow will become increasingly likely in sunny terrain as temperatures rise again this weekend.
The weather may have the upper hand, and we’re beginning to wind things down for the season, but it’s been a memorable ride. Access has become incredibly challenging, yet it’s always a good reminder of how dynamic these seasons can be. It’s hard to imagine those banner years when we’ve ridden into June—but we know they'll come around again. This season will stand out for many reasons, and we hope you were able to get out, spend time in the mountains, and enjoy the snow we did have. Thank you to our backcountry community for your continued support—we truly couldn’t do this work without you. And a huge thank you to Ski-Doo; your generous support makes what we do possible.
The black line says it all. Tony Grove actually looks good compared to the state, which isn't saying much.
Here is a video about a recent natural wet avalanche that we looked at in the Mount Naomi Wilderness.
The avalanche in Smithfield Dry is a great example of just how far wet avalanches can run. The deep debris pile ran all the way down to the canyon bottom, where it crossed the hiking trail. Thanks to Greg Davis for letting us know about this...
***Find avalanche reports and observations from the Logan and Bear River Mountain zone and across the state HERE.
