US Forest Service Manti-La Sal National Forest

Introduction:  Good Morning this is Dave Medara with the USFS Manti-La Sal Avalanche Center with your avalanche and mountain weather advisory.  Today is Saturday, January 7th, 2006 at 8:00 am. This advisory will expire in 24 hours.

 

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 MANTI-LA SAL AVALANCHE CENTER.

 

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:

Well, it looks like yet another storm will pass us by to the north tonight and tomorrow leaving the La Sal Mountains at about 80% of our normal snow cover and tricky snow conditions out there for all. You may be able to find some dry settled powder on slopes that haven’t been baked by the sun or hammered by high winds earlier this week, but the pickings are slim and the ground cover is still dangerously thin. Your best bet is still on the roads and trails in the La Sals where the base is packed out and conditions for cross-country and skate skiing are excellent, backcountry skiing conditions are still marginal.  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.  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, 39 degrees at the Geyser Pass trailhead at 7:00 a.m.  20 degrees in Moab.

Gold Basin and South Mountain:  At least 24” of settled snow on the ground.

Pre-Laurel Peak Weather Station (11,705’):  First information of the year!  Winds are out of the South at 15 – 30 mph.  Temperature is 27 degrees.  We’re not online with the information yet but stay tuned. Thank you Ed Grote for your assistance!

 

Mountain Weather: (At 10,500’)

Today: Partly cloudy, with a high around 44. Breezy, with a west southwest wind between 20 and 25 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph.
Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 23. Breezy, with a west wind between 15 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 29. West northwest wind between 10 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 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 but the possibility of a human triggered avalanche still remains. 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.