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Forecast for the Skyline Area Mountains

Craig Gordon
Issued by Craig Gordon on
Friday morning, December 27, 2013

A MODERATE avalanche danger exists on steep, upper elevation slopes, facing the north half of the compass and human triggered avalanches are possible. While not widespread and limited to a small portion of the range, once initiated, slides may break deeper and wider than you expected, particularly on steep, rocky slopes where strong snow overlays weak, sugary snow..

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Considerable
High
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Weather and Snow

Conditions are slowly improving and the terrain near the summit is starting to fill in somewhat. The riding might not be epic, but it'll be a beautiful weekend on the Skyline none-the-less. Get out of the cold valleys and head to the mountains where you'll be greeted with clear skies, warm temperatures, and light winds.

The Big Drift is looking a little more driftier these days, but nowhere near as white as it should be for this time of year.

Recent Avalanches

Shallow soft slabs can be seen on the leeward side of ridges near the summit.

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Avalanche Problem #1
New Snow
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Location
Likelihood
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Description

The Monday/Tuesday storm helped lay down a coat of new paint, but it didn't change the avalanche danger dramatically. A few shallow slides have been spotted in the usual places... steep, leeward slopes, especially in the wind zone near the summit. Manageable in size and depth, I think most have settled out, but as always look for and avoid any steep slope with fresh wind drifted snow.

The bigger danger this weekend is triggering an avalanche that breaks to weak snow near the ground. Sure, you'd really have to go hunting for this avalanche dragon, but it's not totally elusive. The most likely place to trigger a slide larger than you might expect is steep, rocky, upper elevation terrain, especially on slopes where strong feeling snow rests on top of weak sugary snow.

Additional Information

Partly cloudy skies and a flurry or two develop on Saturday as a weak storm slides through the region. High pressure builds afterwards, providing sunny skies, temperatures climbing into the upper 30's, and light winds. There are no big storms in sight.

General Announcements

Remember your information can save lives. Please let us and the rest of the community know what you are seeing out there by submitting snow and avalanche conditions.

This is a great time of year to schedule a free avalanche awareness presentation for your group or club. Contact either Craig Gordon or Brett Kobernik by emailing us:
CLICK HERE TO EMAIL CRAIG
CLICK HERE TO EMAIL BRETT

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The information in this advisory is from the US Forest Service which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.

This advisory will be updated by 8:00 PM January 3rd.

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