US Forest Service Manti-La Sal National Forest

Introduction: Good morning, this is Max Forgensi with the USFS Manti-La Sal Avalanche Center with your avalanche and mountain weather advisory. Today is Sunday, December 10th, at 7:30AM. This advisory will expire in 24 hours.

CHECK OUT OUR NEW GROOMING EQUIPMENT HERE.

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.

Please give us your observations from the field HERE. The more observations we get, the better this forecast can be.

General Conditions:

Timing has been off for the advent of the next system. The leading edge of the system should push into the CO/UT border by noon and the radar is indicating that it is currently snowing in Bryce Canyon. This system will have the best chance of laying down a blanket of fresh until next weekend so go wash your cars, burn skis and do snow dances. We need some snow!

Backcountry skiing conditions are marginal. If you know the terrain well and can ski on the top inch of snow you can steer clear of ground hazards and the unconsolidated snow pack on Northerly aspects. On South and West aspects bring your rock boards or you’ll give the new skis an unwanted stone grind.

The best bet to break a sweat today in the La Sals is going up and using the GROOMED Nordic and Skate Ski trails. Dave and I went up yesterday to lay down a fresh product. It is fast and fun! The grooming program has kicked off, giving users groomed trails down the Gold Basin road and up to Geyser Pass.

The road the Geyser Pass trailhead is plowed and passable by a medium clearance vehicle, but it is slippery.

Mountain Weather: (At 10,500’) –
Today: Areas of snow, mainly after 11am. Increasing clouds, with a high near 26. Breezy, with a south southwest wind between 15 and 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Tonight: Occasional snow. Low around 10. Breezy, with a southwest wind 20 to 25 mph becoming northwest 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.
Monday: A 40 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 27. West northwest wind between 10 and 15 mph.

Weather Station/ Location	Snow Depth (HS): in./cm	New Snow (HN) in./cm	7:00 a.m. Temp (F)	Current Observations: Wind, 48 hour snow
Geyser Pass Trailhead (9,600’): (snotel link)	17”		25	faceting
Geyser Pass	21”		N/a	Re-crystallized pow
Gold Basin and South Mountain	19”		n/a	POWDER (& rocks!)
Pre-Laurel Peak Station (11,705’)	N/a	N/a	20.1	20+ mph gusts to 40 from South

Avalanche Conditions: (Link to the International Avalanche Danger Scale here) –

This high pressure has been good for working on projects. With no new snow in the past week and not too much available to transport in the current fetch areas, the only change to our snow pack is the surface hoar development due to the cold clear nights. This surface hoar developed up to 11,000’. Although we have had sun and wind to destroy this persistent snow structure, it is hanging on to our Northerly aspects, waiting for this new snow to fall on it. The surface hoar event will not effect the stability today but could in the future. For today, the avalanche danger will be MODERATE, as we feel that there are still a few North and East facing slopes out there that could be reactive to the weight of a skier. Thanks for checking in, we’ll update this message Tuesday morning.