Episode 5 of the UAC podcast "To Hell in a Heartbeat - A Conversation With Tom Diegel and Matt Clevenger About the 12.26.08 Full Burial on Little Water" is live. Matt and Tom talk about the avalanche documented in To Hell in a Heartbeat. Check it out on ITunes, Stitcher, the UAC blog.
The UAC Marketplace is still open. Our online marketplace still has deals on skis, packs, airbag packs, beacons, snowshoes, soft goods and much more.
Southerly winds are on the increase this morning averaging 20-25 mph with gusts to 40. Under clear skies, 10,000' temps are in the low teens. It was a glorious weekend in the La Sals with sunny skies, cold temperatures and fresh snow. It was great to see all the desert winter enthusiasts out enjoying it. February has been a good month for us during an extremely lean winter. The mountains have received 45" of snow since Feb 6, and last week brought 18" - 20" . Conditions are greatly improved but it's still thin up there so use caution and tread lightly.
Base depth in Gold Basin: 40" Base depth at Geyser Pass Trailhead: 27"
New snow totals in Gold Basin.
Snow totals at the Geyser Pass Trailhead, (9600')
Wind, temperature, and humidity on Pre Laurel Peak (11,700')
Road conditions to Geyser Pass Trailhead: The road is snowpacked and icy in places. 4wd is recommended.
Grooming conditions: Trails were rolled out into Gold Basin yesterday.
This natural avalanche on the NE Face of Tukno, AKA Gravel Pit Lanes, likely released during the storm on Thursday. A wind slab release up high ran down and triggered this deeper and clearly dangerous persistent slab avalanche. Note how it propagates out further left above the cliffs. A few other similar but smaller slides also occurred in the area. More details here.