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Forecast for the Uintas Area Mountains

Craig Gordon
Issued by Craig Gordon on
Friday morning, January 2, 2026

While we were sleeping, Mother Nature racked up a little overtime last night and avy danger has bumped up a notch-

Today, CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger exists and human triggered avalanches are LIKELY, but for two distinctly different avalanche dragons. First, the predictable... storm snow and fresh drifts will react to our additional weight particularly on steep, mid and upper elevation, north facing, polar slopes. Second, the rough, rowdy, and unpredictable... avalanches breaking deeper and wider than you might expect, especially on polar slopes where dense hard snow rests on weak, early season facets. Steep, rocky slopes, particularly those in the windzone above treeline are primetime suspects.

Remember.... storm snow is stacking up on a stout, Grinchy, Christmas Eve raincrust and once initiated, today's avalanches will be packing heat.

Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
Extreme
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Weather and Snow

Nowcast - What a nice coat of white paint for the eastern front, especially near Trail Lake where I suspect a little bit of west flow helped squeeze out more juice... 7 inches snow and .90 inches H20. Mid elevation sites around the range generally reflect 3 inches of dense, heavy snow with .45 inches H2O. Winds from the west and southwest feel rather well-behaved, blowing in the mid 20's near the high peaks, while current temperatures hover right around freezing at the trailheads and mid 20's with a bit of elevation gain.

Forecast - Today's storm begins winding down about mid morning, but i suspect we'll squeak out an additional 3-5 inches before drying out. Winds shift to the west and northwest as the day progresses, but remain in the not too obnoxious range of 15-25 mph. Temperatures don't vary much from where w'ere at this morning and cool off nicely overnight, dipping into the low 20's° F.

Futurecast - A break in the action is slated for Saturday with more storminess on tap to kick off the first full week of 2026.

Travel Conditions - Snow depths range from 2-4 feet across the range and the Uinta's are getting whiter. The Christmas Eve raincrust keeps us off the ground, delivering a mostly supportable base. A rain/snow mix at the trailheads is a bit of a buzz-kill, but mid and upper elevation polars are cold and firing. Four-wheeled vehicle access to Mirror Lake Highway (HW150) is shut down, while SR-35 (Wolf Creek Pass) remains open.

New Years Eve was stunning. Brilliant sunshine, hardly a breath of wind, and yeah... a shallow cream topper on a turn anywhere kinda base :)

Recent Avalanches

No new avalanche activity to report, but lots of great info by clicking on the button below-

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Avalanche Problem #1
Persistent Weak Layer
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

Snow structure from the Mill hollow zone.

Here's the wind up... it's not the snow we're riding in that's the problem, it's the snow we're riding on. Remember, early season snow morphed into a weak, sugary layer during the December dryspell and that mess lurks 2-4 feet beneath a supportable, cohesive slab. Let's keep it spicy and throw in a curious and untrustworthy Grinch and throw a Christmas Eve rain crust into the mix which now ties our snowpack together. Unfortunately, this is a deceivingly layer adding structure and supportability, but not necessarily stability. And remember.... crusts promote a mini facet factory above and below

Now the pitch... adding a curve ball to the mix, the snowpack feels bomber under our skis, board, or sled but it's not. In fact, all we need to do is find a shallow spot, like around a bush or rock where we can punch through the slab, irritate the weak layer and collapse the slope, and now the entire roof is crashing down on us.

Persistent slab's are tricky and aren't manageable with ski or side-hill slope cuts. Instead, avoidance is the go-to tool.

JC and I stomped around Campbell Hollow Wednesday and found an intriguing snowpack... weak, faceted snow near the ground is still the main player.

Avalanche Problem #2
Wind Drifted Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

It doesn't feel like winds got too out of hand, perhaps just strong enough to whip up a fresh round of predictable drifts on the leeward side of ridges and around terrain features like chutes and gullies. Wind drifts become more widespread and sensitive to our additional weight later in the day as today's storm deliver another round of snow.

Additional Information

This fleet can't be beat! Huge thanks to Ski-Doo in partnership with Karl Malone's Plaza Cycle, for arranging our sled, loaner program. This vital state-wide partnership gets sleds into the hands of UAC forecasters, allowing us to see more terrain, gather more snowpack information, and issue more accurate avalanche forecasts. Ultimately, this program helps us save lives!

General Announcements

We have some upcoming classes and events that we would be stoked to see you at -- Please reach out with any questions and check out below for more details!

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We are always looking for snow and avalanche observations or just general riding conditions. Reach out to us with questions, concerns, or if you see anything in your travels! Contact us directly through the info below:

This forecast is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This forecast describes general avalanche conditions, and local variations always occur. This forecast was issued on Friday, January 2nd at 0400 AM and expires 24 hours after it was issued. We'll update this information by 07:00 AM tomorrow.

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