For the 2017/2018 winter, we're excited to introduce the Utah Avalanche Center podcast, hosted by forecaster Drew Hardesty and produced by KUER's Benjamin Bombard. On the podcast, you'll find engaging stories, interviews, and lessons learned - all things avalanche, all to help keep people on top of the greatest snow on earth instead of buried beneath it - and easily found on ITunes, Stitcher, the UAC blog, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can find the first podcast, released this week here.
Drew also has written a blog entry "Those Who Cannot Remember the Past ....". This important discussion highlights the relationship between years with lean snowpack and an increase in avalanche fatalities. You can read it here.
Don’t know what to buy your favorite skier for Christmas? Discount lift tickets for Alta, Snowbird, Brighton, Solitude, Deer Valley, Snowbasin,and Beaver Mountain are now available, donated by the resorts to benefit the Utah Avalanche Center. Details and order information here. These make a great holiday gift and all proceeds go towards paying for avalanche forecasting and education!
As of 5 am, temperatures are currently in the low teens, with some colder air pooling at low elevation trailheads where the temperatures remain stuck in the single digits. Winds are out of the northwest, and are generally light at the low and mid elevations. Above 10,000' winds are gusting into the teens and low 20's mph, with 11,000' winds gusting into the 30's and low 40's mph.
The fresh snow from Wednesday will have hidden the numerous rocks and stumps that accompany our shallow snowpack – which is only 1 to 2 feet deep on the shady, mid and upper elevation slopes. Most southerly facing slopes were bare before the Wednesday night storm.
Week in Review
> Saturday Dec 16 the Wasatch mountains picked up a trace to 2" of very low-density snow.
> Quiet weather Sunday through Tuesday.
> Strong south and southwest winds on Wednesday ushered in a cold front that arrived late Wednesday afternoon. Storm and water totals by Thursday included:
- Provo mountains : 3" / 0.3"
- Central Wasatch : 4-9" / 0.3 - 0.4"
- Ogden mountains : 2-5" / 0.05 - 0.25"
No new avalanche activity has been reported from Thursday. However, we did receive a report from mid elevations in Little Cottonwood Canyon of collapsing at the deeper weak layers in our snowpack.