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| Advisory: Logan Area Mountains | Issued by Toby Weed for Sunday - December 8, 2013 - 6:50am |
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bottom line Dangerous avalanche conditions exist and there's a CONSIDERABLE (or level 3) danger on drifted slopes at upper and mid-elevations. Avoid steep drifted terrain where you are likely to trigger dangerous wind slab or persistent slab avalanches. Very shallow and rocky early season snow conditions exist across the Logan Zone, so being caught and carried in even a small avalanche could be very dangerous due to rocks in the runout. Very cold temperatures and extreme wind chill increase the risk of backcountry travel. Careful snowpack evaluation, cautious route-finding, and conservative decision making will be essential this weekend.
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current conditions Arctic cold temperatures continue to up the anti in the backcountry, adding to the danger factor in a few ways. We found smooth and nice shallow powder condition south of Tony Grove Lake during the week, but the snowpack is still quite shallow and rocky. In many areas in the zone, you sink to the ground through shallow, weak, and structureless faceted snow, and travel is difficult. The Tony Grove Snotel at 8400' reports 3 inches of new snow from yesterday's storm. It's negative 4 degrees this morning, and there is 26 inches of total snow containing 67% of average water equivalent for the date. The 9700' Logan Peak weather station reports -9 degrees and northwest winds averaging in the mid teens. The Ben Lomond Snotel reports 13 inches in the last 24 hours. The Tony Grove Road is not maintained for wheeled travel in the winter, and the road is currently very snowy, icy, and treacherous in places. A sled or 4-wheel-drive vehicles and chains are recommended. Be ready to get stuck, bring shovels, extra warm gear, and maybe a sleeping bag or two. If you do ride up remember that there are lots of pedestrians sharing the road, and you have to watch your speed. Beaver Mountain allows uphill foot travel and usually appreciates the help packing in the shallow snow before opening..
Braving arctic weather on the yet to be formed Big Cornice on Cornice Ridge 12-6-2013
A video observation from Garden City Bowls,12-4-2013.....HERE
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recent activity A party reported triggering a small wind slab avalanche Friday in the Cornice Ridge Area above Tony Grove Lake. The same party reported localized collapsing and cracking in drifted upper elevation terrain, red flags indicating the existence of unstable snow. |
| type | aspect/elevation | characteristics |
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LIKELIHOOD
 LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
 LARGE
SMALL
TREND
 INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
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description
Westerly winds increased in the past couple days, drifting the light snow on the surface and creating dangerous avalanche conditions. You'll find freshly formed wind slabs in exposed terrain, especially in and around terrain features like gullies, scoops, sub-ridges, rock outcroppings and cliff bands. You certainly don't want to be caught and carried by any size avalanche, with very shallow snow and sharp rocks in runout zones. Recent avalanches and/or shooting cracks will be obvious red flags requiring you to reevaluate your route, and you should avoid steep drifted terrain. |
| type | aspect/elevation | characteristics |
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LIKELIHOOD
 LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
 LARGE
SMALL
TREND
 INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
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description
Slabs on upper and mid-elevation slopes are building up thickness and weight on top of preexisting very weak sugary or faceted snow, which is widespread in the region due to the prolonged Thanksgiving high pressure system. The added weight from snowfall and wind with yesterday's storm is likely to overload the very weak underlying snow . Dangerous avalanche conditions exist in drifted upper elevation terrain, and yesterday's storm may have caused the danger to become more widespread. You are likely to trigger dangerous avalanches if you venture into steep terrain, and persistent slab avalanches could be triggered remotely, from a distance, or worse from below.
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weather
Check out our one stop weather page........HERE |
| general announcements Sign up early for one of our life-saving avalanche classes.......HERE And refresh your avalanche knowledge, check out some of our tutorials........HERE Follow us at UAClogan on Twitter Utah Avalanche Center mobile app - Get your advisory on your iPhone along with great navigation and rescue tools. Discount lift tickets are now available at Backcountry.com - Thanks to Ski Utah and the Utah Resorts, including Beaver Mountain. All proceeds go towards paying for Utah Avalanche Center avalanche and mountain weather advisories. Benefit the Utah Avalanche Center when you shop from Backcountry.com or REI: Click this link for Backcountry.com or this link to REI, shop, and they will donate a percent of your purchase price to the UAC. Both offer free shipping (with some conditions) so this costs you nothing! Benefit the Utah Avalanche Center when you buy or sell on ebay - set the Utah Avalanche Center as a favorite non-profit in your ebay account here and click on ebay gives when you buy or sell. You can choose to have your seller fees donated to the UAC, which doesn't cost you a penny. Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please participate in the creation of our own community avalanche advisory by submitting snow and avalanche conditions. You can also call us at 801-524-5304 or 800-662-4140, email by clicking HERE, or include #utavy in your tweet or Instagram. I'll start issuing regular backcountry advisories on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday mornings.... This advisory is produced by the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. It describes only general avalanche conditions and local variations always exist. |
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