Introduction: Good Morning this
is Max Forgensi 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 TO 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:
If you
haven’t figured out where you lived yet, let me give you a hint…the
desert. The snow we received on January
1st will be the only snow we’ll see fall from the sky for
quite a while. The entire desert
Southwest will be seeing a warming trend for the next week with all moisture
staying mostly to the North and West of us.
The snow up on the ground is great for snowmobiling if you stay on
packed roads. Otherwise, you might be
spending a good part of the day digging out of the sugar snow near the
ground. If you don’t lose your
momentum on a machine, you should be O.K.
The
road to the Geyser Pass Trailhead has been plowed, although 4WD and chains
could make your chances of reaching the trailhead greater. The skate skiing and Nordic skiing is still
going to be the best bet for exercise today, as the backcountry skiing
conditions are still marginal. We still
need a good solid snowfall to cover most of the obstacles still present in the
backcountry.
Current Conditions: (click location for latest data)
Geyser
Pass Trailhead (9,600’):
11.0” at the SNOTEL. 17” at the GPTH Snowstake, 35 degrees at the
Mountain Weather: (At 10,500’)
Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 42. West southwest wind between 5 and 15
mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Tonight: Clear, with a low around 23.
Breezy, with a west southwest wind between 15 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as
30 mph.
Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 44. Breezy, with a west
southwest wind between 15 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low near 23. West northwest wind
around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Avalanche Conditions: (Link to the
International Avalanche Danger Scale here)
Observations yesterday confirmed that
there was a large avalanche cycle due to the wind event on the 2nd
and 3rd. Avalanches on North
through East aspects were observed above, at and below treeline. These avalanches failed on the depth hoar
layer and slid to the ground. The
natural avalanche cycle has ended and now the chance of
triggered avalanches in these areas are possible. Not every steep Northeast-North-Northwest
slope has failed in the last avalanche cycle, in fact only a small percentage
did. This means that in areas that did
not avalanche and “flush out” the depth hoar crystals in the lower
snow pack, the danger of triggering these slopes is still there. The BOTTOM LINE for today will be an
avalanche danger of MODERATE
on steep E-NE-N-NW slopes greater than 35 degrees and at all elevations. Be especially careful wind-deposited slopes
on these aspects. The wind blew so hard
for the past couple of days that wind slabs can be found in the trees as well.