Be mindful of avalanche workers and SAR personnel - IF YOU TRIGGER an avalanche near a ski area, please report it to the ski patrol dispatch or Alta Central (801-742-2033). Rescue personnel don’t want to be subjected to dangerous conditions if the scene is clear. More on this in Backcountry Emergency Protocols
Yesterday was pure Wasatch magic. Single (and sometimes negative) digit F temps kept the close to 2 feet of fresh snow soft and light. Bluebird skies in Big Cottonwood, with Little Cottonwood holding on to some cloud cover into the evening to preserve as many soft southerlies as possible, even into the dusk patrol hours—save some steep slopes. Light NW winds continued overnight, but are nothing to write home about.
This morning, skies are mostly clear here in BCC, with temperatures in the single digits across the Central Wasatch. Today is the type of day that got "Greatest Snow On Earth" on our license plates. Temps will rise just to the low 20sF, with mostly clear skies, sun, light NW wind, and low-density powder.
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: Today will be a very busy powder day in the Wasatch backcountry. There will be many people who, like you, also want to take advantage of conditions. We’re all in this together today, so, please, remember: we have a responsibility to one another to follow safe travel protocols. Be aware of who’s above and below you, pick the uptrack with the least exposure, transition in safe zones (not in avalanche run outs), cross slopes one at a time, and keep an eye on your partners. Have a good day, and come back home to, and with, all of your friends and family at the end of it. Hopefully you can have another tomorrow.
Sluffs (dry loose avalanches) and wind slabs were the name of the game yesterday in the backcountry.
Long John Silver - Toohey found a natural D2 wind slab on a W-facing slope near 10,800'. It broke 2 feet deep, 175 feet wide, and was large enough to bury a person.
Mt. Superior - A party ascending at sunrise—who was the 3rd or 4th group to cross the slope—triggered a soft wind slab pocket 2 feet deep and 20 feet wide above consequential terrain. While small, these are exactly the slides that can catch you off guard and knock you off your feet in the wrong spot today.
Other observers also noted fast-moving dry new snow, as well as easy to trigger wind slabs on convex rolls. Ski areas in upper LCC reported D2-3's during mitigation.
Read all backcountry observations here.
