Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Logan Area Mountains Issued by Toby Weed for Tuesday - January 14, 2014 - 7:08am
bottom line

There is a HIGH or Level 4 danger, and large and destructive avalanches are likely on drifted slopes in the backcountry. Triggered wind slab and very dangerous deep slab avalanches remain likely on steep drifted slopes. Avoid travel in avalanche terrain, and continue to stay off of and out from under steep slopes and obvious or historic avalanche paths.
avalanche warning

THIS AVALANCHE WARNING IS FOR THE WESTERN UINTAS AND LOGAN AREA MOUNTAINS. VERY DANGEROUS AVALANCHE CONDITIONS STILL EXIST. HUMAN TRIGGERED AVALANCHES ARE LIKELY ON STEEP SLOPES. PEOPLE SHOULD AVOID ALL STEEP MOUNTAIN SLOPES. THIS WARNING DOES NOT INCLUDE SKI AREAS OR HIGHWAYS WHERE AVALANCHE CONTROL IS NORMALLY DONE.
special announcement

For a safer powder option; Discount lift tickets are 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.
current conditions

The Tony Grove Snotel at 8400' picked up 4.8" of water since January 8. It's currently 22 degrees and there is 56 inches of total snow on the ground, containing 88% of average water content for the date. It's 16 degrees at the 9700' Logan Peak weather station and the wind sensor appears to be rimed or covered by ice. Very dangerous avalanche conditions still exist in the backcountry, with drifted and heavy new snow, difficult trail-breaking, and safe riding limited to lower angled meadows and packed trails. The heavy new snow from the past several days accumulated and was drifted onto slopes with widespread very weak preexisting sugary or faceted snow....

A quick look at the 7-day snow data from the Tony Grove Snotel. 1-13-2014
recent activity

On Saturday, 1-11-2014, a Utah rider triggered and was caught, carried and fully buried by a very large hard slab avalanche north of the Idaho State Line. The 3 to 5 foot deep and perhaps 500' wide avalanche failed on weak snow near the ground. The severely injured rider had to be rope-hauled back up the steep slope in a heroic late night rescue effort by Cache, Franklin, and Bear Lake County SAR. More info... HERE On Monday, 1-13-2014, a 18-year-old rider was caught and completely buried by a HUGE avalanche in the "Fair Grounds" on the east side of Logan Peak. Luckily, partners spotted a red glove the rider was wearing, dug him out and resuscitated him. We plan to visit the site today. Preliminary report...... HERE


Here's a nighttime look at the deep crown of the 1-11-2014 avalanche in the middle Fork of Saint Charles Canyon in SE Idaho.

Avalanche Problem 1
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

Very dangerous human triggered avalanches failing in old weak faceted snow or in the basal layers of the existing snow pack are still likely on steep drifted slopes today. You could trigger large and destructive avalanches remotely, from a distance, or worse, from below. Heavy snowfall and sustained strong west winds built significant cohesive and heavy slab on very weak sugary or faceted snow. This unstable snow structure is now widespread across the Logan Zone at all elevations.
Avalanche Problem 2
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

Here are are few reasons why you should avoid travel in avalanche terrain today:

  1. Large avalanches occurred in the Logan Zone over the weekend, and on Monday, some large naturals were also reported.

2. Observed audible collapsing or whoompfing. (observers report extensive collapsing in the Garden City Canyon Area Sunday)

​ 3. Shooting cracks observed, some quite deep and long. (see my video observation from 1-10-2014..... HERE)

4. Serious and significant drifting with sustained and strong west winds for the last 6 days.

5. Heavy snow and rapid overnight accumulations. 4.8" of water equivalent at Tony Grove since 1-8-2014

Wind slab, storm snow, persistent slab, and deep slab avalanches are all likely in the backcountry today. Natural persistent slab activity was reported at lower elevations Sunday.

A natural avalanche at 6800' on a west facing slope hit Hwy 89 in Beaver Canyon yesterday afternoon. 1-12-2014 (Pagnucco)
weather

It will be blustery in the mountains today, with northwest wind, mostly sunny skies and 8500' high temperatures around 31 degrees. Expect fair, warmer, and sunny weather in the mountains tomorrow and for most of the coming work week.

Check out our one stop weather page........HERE
general announcements

For a safer powder option; Discount lift tickets are 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.

Utah Avalanche Center mobile app - Get your advisory on your iPhone along with great navigation and rescue tools.

-The Utah Avalanche Center along with the Montana State University Ski Tracks project combines GPS technology with detailed logbook surveys completed by participants to help us understand how and why decisions are made in the winter backcountry. Participants will use a free smartphone app to record and send us their ski routes then, they will complete a simple online survey telling us some of the features of their tour. For more information visit:    www.montana.edu/snowscience/tracks

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.

Follow us at UAClogan on Twitter 

I'll issue these 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.