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Forecast for the Uintas Area Mountains

Craig Gordon
Issued by Craig Gordon on
Wednesday morning, January 29, 2020
While not widespread, in the wind zone, at and above treeline, you'll encounter CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger. Human triggered avalanches are LIKELY on steep, wind drifted slopes, especially those with an easterly component to its aspect.
Lose a little elevation, you lose most of the problem, and avalanches become more predictable. Steep, wind drifted slopes at mid elevations offer MODERATE avalanche danger and human triggered avalanches are POSSIBLE.
Here's the outlier- while becoming harder to initiate, human triggered avalanches breaking into deeper, buried weak layers remains a distinct possibility. Usual suspects include- steep, rocky, upper elevation terrain, especially slopes exhibiting a thin, shallow snowpack. Remember- any slide that breaks to old snow will immediately ruin your day.
Wind sheltered, low and mid elevation slopes with no steep terrain above or adjacent to where you're riding offers LOW avalanche danger and human triggered avalanches are UNLIKELY.
Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
Extreme
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Special Announcements
January 24 - February 6
Are you looking to improve your avalanche skills? We are offering a Motorized Backcountry 101: Introduction to Avalanches class on February 6 & 8 out of The Edge Powersports and Thousand Peaks Ranch in the Western Uintas. Click HERE for more details.
Weather and Snow
Currently-
Under mostly cloudy skies, temperatures are in the teens, and northwest winds blow 10-20 mph along the high ridges. A fast moving storm is at our door step and should begin impacting the region shortly. I expect a quick burst o' snow will stack up 3"-6" of snow in short order, before tapering off and turning showery this afternoon. Riding and turning conditions remain all-time with mid elevation, wind sheltered terrain delivering cold, creamy snow and excellent riding.
Uinta weather network info is found here. Simply click on the Western Uinta tab.
For today-
Futurecast-
Lingering snow showers are possible Thursday and then we begin to dry as a ridge settles in for the remainder of the work week, providing sunny skies and warming temperatures.
Recent Avalanches
No significant avalanche activity to report.
To view additional trip reports and recent avalanche activity, simply click here.
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Avalanche Problem #1
Persistent Weak Layer
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
The avalanche in the image above triggered Saturday on an upper elevation southeast facing slope is an outlier, but deserves attention. Breaking 2'-3' deep and a couple hundred feet wide, this slide was triggered on a steep, breakover where the snowpack was thin and weak. Weather prevented me from visiting the site, but Ted investigated and had this insight... "Not normally too concerned with the south facing slopes in January, but there is some buried small grained faceted about two feet deep that might be a factor in the recent sled triggered slide on a southeast facing slope. I dug a quick snow pit on a somewhat similar aspect, but a little higher on the slope and was able to get a crack to propagate across a three foot wide column of snow. It did take several hard hits from the shoulder before it did fail."
In most terrain the snowpack is deep, it's gaining strength, and it's happy in its own skin. However, we're not quite out of the woods just yet and as evidenced with Saturday's sled triggered slide, steep, rocky, upper elevation terrain remains suspect. So, while so much of our terrain is good to go, if you're travels take you to steep, technical slopes today, especially those with a thin, shallow snowpack, think about your exit strategy and the consider the consequences of triggering a slide that has the potential to break deeper and wider than you might expect. Or... with all the good riding out there and miles of terrain to choose from, simply avoid slopes with these characteristics.
Avalanche Problem #2
Wind Drifted Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
Mostly manageable in size, I think today's fresh drifts may break in similar fashion to what I saw yesterday, depicted in the image above.
I bet this mornings storm snow coupled with a bump in wind speeds produces shallow drifts sensitive to our additional weight. Found mostly on the leeward side of upper elevation ridges, if winds ramp up or we see more snow than forecast, I wouldn't be too surprised to find a fresh drift or two cross-loaded around terrain features like chutes or gullies. More the exception than the rule, a rogue wind slab could break deeper and wider than you might expect, creating a slide that quickly gets out of hand. Your best bet for avoidance is to simply steer clear of any fat, rounded piece of snow, especially if it sounds hollow like a drum.
Additional Information
Thanks to the generous support of our Utah ski resorts and Ski Utah, we have discount lift tickets available. All proceeds support the UAC. Get your tickets HERE.
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General Announcements
The information in this forecast expires in 24 hours, but will be updated by 7:00 AM Thursday Jan. 30th.
This forecast is updated daily by 7:00 AM.
In the mean-time, if you see or trigger an avalanche or just wanna let me know what you're seeing you can reach me directly at 801-231-2170
It'll be a minute or two before we're riding, but while you're waiting....
This is a great time of year to schedule one of our free avy awareness presentations.
You can email me directly [email protected]
The information in this forecast is from the US Forest Service which is solely responsible for its content.
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