The avalanche danger remains CONSIDERABLE on the steep west, north and east facing slopes above around 9000' or so. I feel pretty sure that a person could trigger an avalanche in this terrain today.
Special AnnouncementsBe sure to join us at Big Pine Sports on Thursday, January 25th for a free avalanche presentation. DETAILS HERE
We are offering a Motorized Backcountry 101 avalanche class on February 10th. DETAILS HERE
Weather and SnowDuring some fieldwork on Thursday, I continued to experience collapsing and cracking of the snowpack. As I was approaching a small north facing test slope it collapsed and cracked. The set up is about 10" of newer snow overlying VERY weak snow from earlier in the season. If the slope had been a little steeper it would have avalanched. This demonstrates that conditions are still unstable anywhere there is old weak snow under the newer snow.
Another sign of unstable snow was when my partner and I on our machines came up to a downed tree across the road where we had to turn around. We both sank our tracks right down to the ground during the tight turn. When we stepped off the machines, our boots sank through the new snow and also through the faceted sugar snow and basically punched right to the ground. The entire snowpack felt "upside down" in density.
Experiencing collapsing and cracking as well as sinking through the entire snowpack on machines or on foot are all clues to unstable snow.
Recent AvalanchesUnfortunately, it seems another snowmobiler has died in an avalanche. This time in Idaho near Mt Jefferson, Centennial Mountains of Island Park. SOME DETAILS HERE
The reason I mention this is that many mountain regions in the west have a shallow and very weak snowpack just like we have here along the Manti Skyline. The difference is that we have not added enough snow on top of the weak layers to produce widespread avalanche activity yet. The point is we could have the same dangerous conditions right here in our backyard before we know it, we just need some more snow.
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We will publish full detailed advisories Saturday and Sunday mornings by 7am. We will also be publishing basic avalanche danger ratings & info during the week.
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