SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT |
 |
The La Sal Avalanche Center is hosting our annual AIARE Level Iclass from Friday, February 5th - Sunday, February 7th. The course is starting to fill up! Call 435-636-3363 to sign up or for more information. The cost of the course is $199.00. |
|
|
BOTTOM LINE
Danger by aspect and elevation on slopes approaching 35° or steeper.
(click HERE for tomorrow's danger rating)
|
Danger Rose Tutorial
|
There is a avalanche danger of MODERATEon steep NE-N-NW slopes, with some small pockets of considerable above treeline. Use good route finding to access good snow and watch out for hollow sounding wind slabs on slopes greater than 35 degrees. |
|
|
CURRENT CONDITIONS |
|
The Moab Valley is still in an inversion and the La Sal mountains have reached above freezing for a few hours each of the last few days. We have not had any precipitation since the last blue moon (14 days) and some of you might be wondering if it is really worth it to go up and ski. ITIS. Creamy turning conditions can be found in sheltered northerly slopes deep within the range. South and west aspects will not be worth it. This weekend will be great to climb a mountain or go on a "tour". If you would like to go out the Abajo's, one observer reported 28" at the old Blue Mountain Ski Area with decent turns.
LUNA volunteers will be up on Friday to groom, the conditions are primo. The road to the Geyser Pass trailhead is a bit icy, so be careful.
The Gold Basin weather site is almost complete. Thank you everyone for your help! |
|
|
RECENT ACTIVITY |
|
Today's tour into Talking Mountain Cirque yielded some good observations. Two significant slides occurred around the Lone Pine slide path...both north facing. One started above treeline, appearing to be a wind slab, while the other started at treeline and ran through some less than 30 degree trees. El Pinche also slid from the lower part of the couloir, cleaning out the run-out zone. There were several wet slides on steep south and west slopes. |
|
|
THREAT #1 |
|
| WHERE |
PROBABILITY |
SIZE |
TREND |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Over the next
48 hours.
|
|
|
Our tour ended today below our objective due to a couple of layers that "popped out" at us. There were some wind skins deposited recently in a tesselated pattern, failing on very easy shears. Also, there was a buried facet layer 30 cm down which produced quick, cash register Q1 shears with easy and moderate compression tests. (NW aspect, 11,600', 35 deg). We felt good with our decision, and we turned around because we didn't want to find ourselves on any steep, large wind skins that could step down into the buried near surface facets. |
|
|
THREAT #2 |
|
| WHERE |
PROBABILITY |
SIZE |
TREND |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Over the next
48 hours.
|
|
|
For those of you who don't know how to read a compass, stay off the sunny sides. The rate of return is low, ripe conditions difficult to forecast. |
|
|
MOUNTAIN WEATHER |
|
Tonight...Partly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of snow in the evening. Lows 15 to 25. Friday...Sunny. Highs in the 30s. Friday Night...Mostly clear. Lows 15 to 25. Saturday...Mostly sunny. Highs in the 30s. |
|
|
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. |
