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 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:
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
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.