BOTTOM LINE

Danger by aspect and elevation on slopes approaching 35° or steeper.
(click HERE for tomorrow's danger rating)

Danger Rose Tutorial

Considerable Avalanche Danger remains on above Treeline slopes facing North, Northeast and East. Extreme Caution should be used if you intend to travel in avalanche terrain above treeline. Where there is enough coverage to ski, there will be significant Avalanche Danger. Please work this conflict out in a conservative manner....

Nice cross-country skiing conditions and snowmobiling condition exist at the moment

Click here to see the newly revised North American Avalanche Danger Scale.

CURRENT CONDITIONS

Temperatures are a little warmer today at Mountain Locations but still bitter cold in the valleys. -8 Degrees F in Moab, 12 Degrees F at the Geyser Pass Snotel and 10 degrees F on Pre-Laurel Peak at 7:00 AM. Bundle up if you go out today and check your partners for frostbite. The problem today is that to get anywhere that has good skiing you're going to have to expose yourself to potentially high avalanche danger and risk life and limb getting in and out of you objective. The ground cover is BAD. Max and I toured into Gold Basin Wednsday. Let's just say rock skis are mandatory! Keeping recreation to the roads and trails is not a bad idea.

The San Juan County Road Dept. Opened up access to the East side of the La Sals via the Dark canyon trailhead Tuesday. The road to the Geyser Pass Winter Trailhead has been cleared, as always, 4WD or Chains should be available when heading up to the mountains.

SNOW From last storm:

7-8 inches of new snow reported in Moab. More in Castle Valley and Locations in Spanish Valley.

18" of snow @ 10,000 ft int he La Sals 1.98 h2o - Gold Basin Study Plot

14" snow @ 9800' in the La Sals, 1.6" h2o - Snotel

27" snow @ 8600' in the Abajos, 3.0" h2o (!)

RECENT ACTIVITY

Class 2 (small slab) activity noted in Exxon's Folley and in the Middle cirque. Small pockety slabs releasing with terrain features not covered well. Lot's of collapsing and cracking.

Any backcoutry observations are welcome! Just click on the observation tab to the left!

THREAT #1

WHERE

PROBABILITY

SIZE

TREND

Over the next 24 hours.

Click here to see the newly revised North American Avalanche Danger Scale.

The snowpack should be a little less reactive today as the snowpack adjust to the load it was burdened with in this last storm. WInds have been light and pretty well behaved. Keeping pockets of CONSIDERABLEDanger in the forecast however due to our very weak Faceted Grain older snowpack. These Faceted Grains, or depth hoar, form a weak layer under the newest snow that is known for It's persistence. If there's one thing the old bomb-chuckers from Colorado and Northern Utah knew, it's don't trust that depth hoar. Avalanche Danger will vary significantly with elevation and aspect due to lack of snow coverage in many areas before this storm and local assesment should be made if you're thinking about going onto any avalanche terrain. Human triggered avalanches are still possible.

MOUNTAIN WEATHER

National Weather Service Forecast for 10,000 Ft. :

Today:

A 20 percent chance of snow after 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 21. South southwest wind between 5 and 10 mph.

Tonight:

Snow. Low around 9. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.

Saturday:

A 50 percent chance of snow. Cloudy, with a high near 20. East southeast wind 5 to 15 mph becoming south southwest. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

Saturday Night:

Snow. Low around 14. Breezy, with a south southwest wind between 10 and 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 5 to 9 inches possible.

Sunday:

Snow. High near 20. Breezy, with a south wind between 15 and 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Sunday Night:

Snow likely. Cloudy, with a low around 11. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Monday:

A 30 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 20.

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

LUNA Groomer Training December 12th - Contact Kiersten Peterson at 260-0042 if you are interested in volunteering for the Lower Utah Nordic Alliance grooming team. We'll meet at 8:00 AM at the Moab Area Arts and Recreation Center, then head up on the mountain.

Basic Avalanche Awareness Class - Grand County Library, January 12th - 5:30 - 8:00 PM.

LSAC Level One Avalanche Class - 3 days, January 29 - 31 - Call 435-636-3363 to reserve a spot or get more info.

This information does not apply to developed ski areas or highways where avalanche control is normally done. This advisory is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.

This advisory provided by the USDA Forest Service, in partnership with:

The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center, Utah Division of State Parks and Recreation, Utah Division of Emergency Management, Salt Lake County, Salt Lake Unified Fire Authority and the friends of the La Sal Avalanche Center. See our Sponsors Page for a complete list.