We are sorry to report that a skier was buried and killed in a large avalanche around 5 pm Friday by Electric Lake, on the Manti/Skyline Plateau. Our sincere condolences go out to the victim's family and friends. Here is the preliminary
accident report.Grand County has not plowed since the most recent storm Thursday night. 4"-6" of rutted and drifted snow exists on the road. 4wd required.
We will be offering a Backcountry 101 avalanche course on Feb 8, 9. It's a great way to up your avalanche knowledge with both classroom, and hands on field instruction. Click here for more details and to register. Much thanks to
Moab Gear Trader for sponsoring this course! Please visit them for all of your winter backcountry needs.
High clouds are streaming into the area ahead of an upper level low approaching from the northwest. Westerly winds are blowing in the 15-20 mph range along ridge tops and 10,000' temps are in the low 20's. We'll see mostly sunny skies today with mountain temps in the high 20's. Winds will be on the increase, shifting to the SW later today ahead of an approaching storm system that will affect our area Mon-Tues.
Last week's storm cycle brought us 18" of new snow, the first round coming in heavy and dense, the second, light and fluffy. At around 2" of water weight, the load was too much for our weak snowpack, and widespread natural avalanching has occurred over the past several days. The snowpack continues to be touchy and yesterday, I and others continued to experience cracking, collapsing and whumphing from all corners of the range. Excellent turning and riding conditions can be found, even on southerly aspects, however, it is imperative that you keep your slope angles low.
Thanks for all the great observations that have been coming in, view the complete list
here. Base depth in Gold Basin: 53"
It's been an active week for avalanche natural avalanche activity and numerous slides have been reported throughout the range.
State Parks ranger Jeff Arbon was snowmobiling on the east side of the range Thursday when conditions were quite sensitive. Road cuts, and steep banks were collapsing and avalanching easily under their weight. Though much of the sensitivity has gone out of the snow, slides like this were still being triggered yesterday.
