We are deeply saddened to report an avalanche fatality in the East Bowl of Silverfork on Saturday. A very preliminary report can be found HERE>
Please join UAC Forecaster Craig Gordon at Ecker Hill Middle School, Tuesday February 11th from 6:30-8:00 PM for a State of the Snowpack presentation hosted by Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association -- Reserve a spot
HERE. Skies are clear. Mountain temps are in the single digits. Winds are generally light from the west. Along the highest elevations, however, they're averaging 25-35mph with occasional gusts to 45.
Today, we'll have sunny skies, generally light westerly winds, and temps rising to the teens and low 20s.
A weak brush-by system grazes through tonight and tomorrow that'll bring exceptionally cold temps on Wednesday (down to -5°F). A potent looking system follows for Friday.
It's some of the best skiing and riding of the year right now, but we don't sit easy in the forecast office. I view the snowpack structure as fairly complex with a lot of avalanches failing on a lot of different weak layers. Some of the weak layers formed in November and December, some in late January, some with Friday's blockbuster storm. When the snowpack gets complex, I recommend choosing the simple option: low angle terrain. There's plenty of slopes 30° or less that offer excellent riding without having to thread the needle or outsmart the avalanches. Just my 2 cents from 25 years in the easy chair.
We're just on the heels of a tragic weekend with one skier fatality in the East Bowl of Silver Fork of BCC and a very close call in the Dutch Draw area along the PC ridgeline that fully buried one rider and partially buried another. With good visibility yesterday, observers noted a wide expanse of large natural avalanches that ripped out over the weekend, from the Room of Doom (MD pic) in upper Mineral Fork, to a wide expanse of naturals in Broads Fork, to the Raymond Slabs of upper Porter Fork, to Wilson Chutes and upper Snake Creek.
In lower
Mineral Fork yesterday, a skier remotely triggered a soft slab avalanche that stepped to the ground. This was a repeater slope that avalanched over the holidays on a steep northeast facing slope at 9000'. The avalanche broke 2.5 feet deep and 100' wide. (L. Dunn pic below.). The other avalanche that caught my eye was with control work along the PC ridgeline where the ski cut produced an avalanche that collapsed a crust a foot deep and 40' wide on an east facing slope at 8700'.
