Introduction: Good
morning! This is Dave Medara with the
WE ARE STARTING TO FILL UP OUR AIARE LEVEL 1 AND LEVEL
2 CLASSES BEING HELD IN THE LA SALS THIS YEAR.
THE LEVEL 1 IS FEBRUARY 3RD-5TH (FRI-SUN), WHILE
OUR LEVEL 2 IS MARCH 3RD-6TH
(FRI-MON). CALL (435)
636-3363 FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO SIGN UP.
EACH CLASS IS LIMITED TO 12 STUDENTS.
TUITION GOES DIRECTLY TOWARDS THE FRIENDS OF THE
To see past advisories check out the ARCHIVE. To see current conditions go to our WEATHER PAGE. To see photos go to the AVIPHOTOS page.
General Conditions:
It seems that the best bet for winter
recreational opportunities in the La Sal Mountains over the holiday weekend will
be limited to sledding and cross country skiing on the road and trails. There
is a lot of ground hazard out there and punji stakes in wooded areas so heads
up! Conditions for classic cross-country and skate skiing on the roads are
excellent as well as the snowmobiling on the roads. But be warned, Backcountry
skiing conditions are horrible, and the cover is extremely thin for
snowmobiling and backcountry touring unless you’re feeling very
adventurous.
The slight chance of snow in our forecast for the next couple of days
does not look like enough to change the situation very much, so be sure to
include a snow dance in your Christmas celebrations. Temperatures should drop
again to better freezing levels so at least the ice conditions in the sloughs
will improve! The Grand County Road Department did plow the road,
although it is still icy and snow packed in spots. 4WD and chains are recommended.
Current Conditions: (click location for latest data)
Geyser
Pass Trailhead (9,600’):
5.2” at the SNOTEL. 39
degrees at the trailhead at
Gold Basin and South Mountain:
20” of settled snow on the ground.
Mountain Weather: (At 10,500’)
Today...Mostly cloudy with a slight chance of snow in the
morning...Then a slight chance of rain in the afternoon. Highs in the 40s. West
winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation 20 percent.
Tonight...Partly cloudy
in the evening then becoming mostly cloudy. Lows in the 20s.
Friday...Mostly
cloudy in the morning then becoming partly cloudy. A 20 percent chance
of snow. Highs 35 to 45. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph.
Avalanche Conditions: (Link to the
International Avalanche Danger Scale here)
For those who really dare to go out
there…. Here is the avi report. As one might expect, on all the shady
aspects, East thru NW facing there is extremely weak snow on the ground with a
depth of anywhere from 8” to 24” or so. There are some higher density
wind slabs on top of this weak faceted snow in some areas, particularly above treeline
or in otherwise wind affected areas. On SE thru West facing slopes expect to
find a collections of sun crusts, wind crusts and weak faceted snow, grass and
rocks, all with-in a 6-12” layer of snow. There may be some supportable
crusts to ski out there on wind packed ridgelines, but make sure you’re
on your rock skis.
These conditions make for a pretty negligible
avalanche hazard throughout most of the range except on steep E thru NW facing
slopes where weak, unconsolidated snow could accumulate into a loose snow
avalanche or some odd pocket of wind slab hasn’t broken down into faceted
snow yet. The BOTTOM Line is a MODERATE hazard on high elevation East through NW facing
slopes and LOW
hazard throughout the majority of the range