Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Logan Area Mountains Issued by Toby Weed for Monday - January 1, 2018 - 7:03am
bottom line

Snow in the backcountry is gradually stabilizing, but areas with dangerous avalanche conditions still exist on some mid and upper elevation slopes. Large and dangerous human triggered avalanches remain possible on steep slopes.

  • Evaluate snow and terrain carefully, make conservative decisions.
  • Continue to avoid the steep hills. Give the snow a bit more time to stabilize.

I will update this advisory on Wednesday 1/3/18
current conditions

On the first day of 2018, the Tony Grove Snotel at 8400' reports 26°F and 42 inches of total snow containing exactly 100% of normal SWE (Snow Water Equivalent). It's 19°F at the 9700' CSI Logan Peak weather station, and a southwest wind is blowing 17 mph. The snow continues to gradually stabilize, and no new avalanches were reported despite a busy weekend in the backcountry. Even so, we're still getting reports of whumpfing, snowpit tests show propagation, poor snow structure exists in many areas, and it's still dangerous on many slopes in the backcountry. Be patient, give the steep slopes more time.

  • Shallow snow conditions exist, and I've seen several badly damaged sleds in the past week. Travel cautiously and keep your speed down.

recent activity

No new avalanches were reported from the backcountry over the weekend.

On 12/26/17, a very lucky 20-year-old rider was rescued by his party after being caught, carried, mostly buried, and pinned against a tree in Boss Canyon near the Idaho State Line in the Franklin Basin Area. View the Report

Here's a view looking down the Boss Canyon avalanche. The avalanche was on a very steep north facing slope in deep timber.
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

Persistent slab avalanches are possible on steep slopes at mid and upper elevations. Backcountry observers continue to report red flagged signs of instability; like audible collapsing, cracking, and poor snow structure, indicating the persistent slab problem still exists.

  • Pay attention to possible signs of instability like cracking and whumpfing or collapsing. But remember these signs are not always present when conditions are dangerous, and you have to dig into the snow to confirm poor snow structure.
  • Although becoming less likely, avalanches still might be triggered remotely, from a distance, or worse, from below.
  • Avoid drifted snow in steep terrain near ridges and in and around terrain features like gullies, saddles, rock bands, scoops, and sub-ridges.
  • A ride in even a small avalanche could be particularly dangerous now due shallow snow and the potential for being dragged through rocks, trees, or deadfall below.
weather

High pressure aloft will gradually strengthen across the region through the middle of the week. A series of storm systems will impact the area later in the week and into the upcoming weekend.
New Year's Day: Partly sunny, with a high near 33. Wind chill values as low as zero. West northwest wind around 16 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 18. West northwest wind 8 to 13 mph.
Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 36. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm in the morning.

general announcements

We're excited to introduce for the 2017/2018 winter the Utah Avalanche Center podcast, hosted by forecaster Drew Hardesty and produced by KUER's Benjamin Bombard. The podcast will include engaging stories, interviews, and lessons learned - all things avalanche to help keep people on top of the snow instead of buried beneath it - and easily found on ITunes, Stitcher, the UAC blog, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Discount lift tickets for Alta, Snowbird, Brighton, Solitude, Deer Valley, Snowbasin, and Beaver Mountain are now available, donated by the resorts to benefit the Utah Avalanche Center. Details and order information here. All proceeds go towards paying for avalanche forecasting and education!

Now is a great time to practice companion rescue techniques with your backcountry partners. Here's our rescue practice video.

Go HERE for a list of UAC classes.

EMAIL ADVISORY: If you would like to get the daily advisory by email you will need to subscribe here.

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 help us out by submitting snow and avalanche observations. You can also call us at 801-524-5304, email by clicking HERE, or include #utavy in your tweet or Instagram.

This advisory is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.