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Forecast for the Provo Area Mountains

Drew Hardesty
Issued by Drew Hardesty for
Tuesday, December 25, 2012

We have a mostly MODERATE danger with primary concerns being the lingering wind deposited snow in the steep mid and upper elevation north through easterly facing terrain. Human triggered slides within the wind drifts, storm snow, and loose snow avalanches are possible. Human triggered slides stepping into older, weaker snow 1-2' deep may be possible in steep wind drifted terrain...and are more pronounced in the thinner snowpack areas. Enjoy the Christmas powder, but do your homework and follow safe travel protocols.

Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
Extreme
Learn how to read the forecast here
Special Announcements

Discount lift tickets are in! Go to http://www.backcountry.com/utah-avalanche-center to get tickets from our partners at Beaver Mountain, Park City, Canyons, Snowbird, Sundance, and Wolf Mountain. All proceeds benefit the Utah Avalanche Center. A big thanks to the Utah mountain resorts - we couldn't do it without your partnership.

A quick word on dropping cornices. Drop cornices only when you are sure no one is below you. If the visibility is poor, it's a no-go. The same goes for ski/slope cutting. Dropping cornices from above into ski resort terrain - as was the case a couple of days ago - is a bad move.

AN AVALANCHE WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE MANTI-SKYLINE PLATEAU. GO TO THEIR FORECAST FOR ALL THE DETAILS.

Weather and Snow

It's a dream for every little kid (and you know who you are) to find 10-14" of 5% in his/her Christmas stocking this morning. You must've been good this year (though maybe for some of you not all good). Storm totals across the range are 16-18" in the Cottonwoods, 10-14" in the Park City and Ogden mountains, and 6-10" in Provo. Even the mid canyons produced with a foot of snow at some of the trail-heads. With frontal passage, snowfall rates reached 4"/hr, though gusty and blustery westerly winds accompanied the deluge. For a few hours in the afternoon, the most exposed anemometers had hourly averages in the 40s with gusts to 6, but they've all but calmed with most stations showing speeds less than 15mph. Temps are in the single digits. The skiing and riding conditions bordered on the sublime...

Sure Santa arrived early, but it looks like he's gonna stick around for awhile - see the Mountain Weather below...

Recent Avalanches

Just like clockwork, the height of instability was in perfect lock-step with the highest rates of snowfall. Control teams at the resorts and the few out and about yesterday all reported manageable, yet sensitive, shallow soft slabs and long running loose snow avalanches.

Murdock?/Benson Reed?/Lambs? You know the old joke - "The French, they have a word for everything." Same for the Wasatch. Check out Steve Achelis's website (http://wasatchbackcountryskiing.com/) to get clued in. His weather-resistant field map can be found at our store (up top on the header) or at many fine stores near you. Shameless plug - they make gifts and proceeds benefit the Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center. Thanks Steve!

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

One can expect to find 12 hour old drifts of wind blown snow in the steep upper elevation north through east through south facing terrain. Low density stellars and dendrites (snowflakes every child loves to draw) (for a cool project looking at snowflakes in free-fall click here) easily act as "grease" beneath the wind slabs and I'd approach the steep open terrain with caution. These, and loose snow issues, can be generally remedied by ski and slope cuts, cornice drops, and expert terrain management. Whereas yesterday the danger was on the rise, today it is on the mend. Human triggered slides are possible and may be 1-2+' deep.

Avalanche Problem #2
New Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

The Outlier. Thinner snowpack areas that picked up a foot of snow with wind...with the addition of human weight may be prone to stepping into older weak sugary snow. These areas include Mill Creek, Lambs, Mt Aire, the Park City ridgeline, the terrain along the periphery of the horseshoe of the Cottonwood canyons. The most problematic terrain is 8500-10,000' on northwest to easterly facing slopes. Test slopes, snowpack tests, and collapsing/shooting cracks should offer some clues to the local conditions. Spatial variability is a great concern here. Remote triggering in the exposed open terrain is possible.

Experienced pros and backcountry riders can manage loose and storm snow avalanches through safe cornice drops, slope cuts, and smart terrain choices. Persistent hard slabs? Nope. The only ticket here is lots of homework, smart terrain choices, or avoidance. You'll be able to find excellent turns on mid and upper elevation slopes less steep than 35 degrees (with nothing steeper above).

Avalanche Problem #3
Wet Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

While not as sensitive as yesterday, longer running sluffs are possible in the steeper (>40 degree) terrain today. Naturals are unlikely; however, today's feeding frenzy will have people above, below, and everywhere in between.

Additional Information

Skies should start to clear out pretty quickly. The winds will be light for most of the day then start to pick up a bit out of the southwest ahead the mid-week storm. Temps will start to rebound from the low single digits to the low teens at 10,000', and the upper teens at 8000'. The next, longer storm event commences Wednesday, lasting through perhaps early Friday where we could see another 12-18". Easy. Happy Holidays.

General Announcements

Go to http://www.backcountry.com/utah-avalanche-center to get tickets from our partners at Ala, Beaver Mountain, Brighton, Canyons, Deer Valley, Park City, Powder Mountain, Snowbasin, Snowbird, Solitude, Sundance, and Wolf Mountain. All proceeds benefit the Utah Avalanche Center.

If you trigger an avalanche in the backcountry - especially if you are adjacent to a ski area – please call the following teams to alert them to the slide and whether anyone is missing or not. Rescue teams can be exposed to significant hazard when responding to avalanches, and do not want to do so when unneeded. Thanks.

Salt Lake and Park City – Alta Central (801-742-2033), Canyons Resort Dispatch (435-615-3322)

Ogden – Snowbasin Patrol Dispatch (801-620-1017)

Powder Mountain Ski Patrol Dispatch (801-745-3773 ex 123)

Provo – Sundance Patrol Dispatch (801-223-4150)

Dawn Patrol Forecast Hotline, updated by 05:30: 888-999-4019 option 8.

Twitter Updates for your mobile phone - DETAILS

Daily observations are frequently posted by 10 pm each evening.

Subscribe to the daily avalanche advisory e-mail click HERE.

UDOT canyon closures UDOT at (801) 975-4838

Wasatch Powderbird Guides does daily updates about where they'll be operating on this blog http://powderbird.blogspot.com/ .

Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please participate in the creation of our own community avalanche advisory bysubmitting snow and avalanche conditions. You can also call us at 801-524-5304 or 800-662-4140, or email by clicking HERE

Donate to your favorite non-profit –The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center. The UAC depends on contributions from users like you to support our work.

For a print version of this advisory click HERE.

This advisory is produced by the U.S. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. It describes only general avalanche conditions and local variations always exist. Specific terrain and route finding decisions should always be based on skills learned in a field-based avalanche class.

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