Grooming Conditions: Surfaces are currently packed solid from weeks of ski and snowmobile traffic. We really need some fresh snow to start grooming.

Now is a great time to dial in your safety gear including putting fresh new batteries in your beacons! Local shops across the state will be handing out free Batteries for Beacons now until February 1, 2025. All you need to do is fill out a quick survey and grab the AAA or AA batteries you need to keep your beacon fresh this season. Head into Moab Gear Trader to get yours!

Look for continued warm and sunny conditions today. A small disturbance will bring clouds and a slight chance of snow on Monday. Another storm moves through on Wednesday but I'm afraid it really is going to take a Christmas miracle for it to amount to much. An unsettled pattern continues. Stay tuned.

Dave Garcia and I got out and toured the alpine on Friday and conditions are pretty rugged. Above treeline, winds have hammered the snow surface and created a landscape of alternating crusts and hardened wind board. Near treeline and below, the snowpack is weakening and losing cohesion. Loose sluffs may run on the steepest slopes at these elevations. There are still some areas where the dense, November slab remains intact, but supportable conditions are dwindling.

We poked around in the snow above treeline and found a mostly faceted snowpack. There are areas where a denser slab overlies weaker snow, but the slab itself is deteriorating, and stability tests continue to be non-reactive. Isolated, hard slabs of wind drifted snow overlying weak, faceted, sugary snow can be found up there in some areas. Although these slabs are extremely stubborn to release, this is the setup that would be the most likely to cause problems. Minimize your risk by continuing to avoid steep, convex slopes, especially those that have a smooth rounded appearance, or that sound or feel hollow underneath.

Gold Basin Storm Stake (10,000')

Gold Basin SNOTEL site (10,000')