Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Logan Area Mountains Issued by Toby Weed for Thursday - January 18, 2018 - 6:48am
bottom line

Heightened avalanche conditions exist in the backcountry, and the danger is MODERATE. Dangerous human-triggered persistent slab avalanches, 2 to 3 feet deep, remain possible in exposed terrain at upper and mid-elevations. Evaluate snow and terrain carefully.
special announcement

Ever wondered what it's like to go on assignment on the most challenging expeditions in the world and bring home stories for National Geographic? Join National Geographic Explorer Mike Libecki tomorrow night at Snowbird's Wild Flower Lounge at 6PM. Details here.
current conditions

The Tony Grove Snotel at 8400' reports 32°F, and there's 50 inches of total snow at the site containing 93% of normal SWE (Snow Water Equivalent). It's 19°F at the UDOT Hwy 89 Summit weather station, with light east wind. Heightened avalanche conditions exist, especially where the snow is generally shallow, and large human triggered avalanches remain possible.

  • The Providence Canyon road is blue water ice and travel is not recommended
  • The Tony Grove Road is not maintained for wheeled travel in the winter. Do not try to drive up, you won't get far.
  • It's stating to fill in up high, but shallow snow conditions still exist in many areas, and we've seen numerous badly damaged sleds recently.
recent activity

A couple close calls occurred in the Logan Zone over the weekend.

  • On Saturday, 1/13/18, a rider was caught but ended up on top of the debris pile in a relitively small avalanche near Naomi Peak. View Report HERE
  • On Sunday, 1/14/18, a couple riders were on the slope when they triggered a large hard slab avalanche. One rider was able to outrun the avalanche, while the other lost his sled and was caught and carried to the bottom of the slope, but miraculously was not buried in the deep debris. Report HERE

Paige and Kory looking at the broad crown of Sunday's large sled triggered avalanche in upper Providence Canyon near Logan Peak.

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

Although slopes are gradually stabilizing and persistent slab avalanches are becoming harder to trigger, the consequences remain the same. Dangerous persistent slab avalanches are possible on slopes with poor snow structure, which exist in many areas. Pay attention to possible signs of instability like cracking and whumpfing or collapsing, but remember these red flagged signs of instability aren't always present when avalanches are triggered.

  • Heightened persistent slab avalanche conditions are likely to persist in areas with shallow overall snow cover.
  • A ride in even a small avalanche could be particularly dangerous due shallow snow and the potential for being dragged through rocks below.
weather

An upper level trough currently over the eastern Pacific will move into and across the Great Basin Friday through early Sunday. Precipitation will develop across northern Utah late Friday, then spread across most of the region for Friday night through Saturday night. High pressure will return to the area late Sunday.

  • Today: Partly sunny, with a high near 41. Southwest wind 10 to 17 mph.
  • Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 30. Breezy, with a southwest wind 20 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 39 mph.
  • Friday: Snow. High near 34. Breezy, with a west southwest wind 14 to 24 mph, with gusts as high as 38 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.
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.