The avalanche danger is MODERATE on slopes of about 35 degrees or steeper with recent soft or hard wind drifts.  With the sustained winds overnight that no doubt continued to drift snow, I’m keeping pockets of a CONSIDERABLE danger above 9000 feet on slopes that face north through southeast.  This danger includes any fresh drifts as well as the chance of a slide breaking deeper into old snow.  Deeper releases are more likely in areas with a shallow snowpack of 4 feet total or less.  Remember to follow all travel protocols with only one person on a slope at a time.  Wait until people are clear of the runnouts and avoid getting underneath other people above you on the slope.

Under partly cloudy skies, temperatures are in the mid teens to low 20s.  West northwest winds continue to blow averaging 15 mph along the upper ridges and gusting into the 20s and 30s.  At the most exposed locations they’re gusting into the 40s.

Saturday was a busy day in many areas in the backcountry with lots of folks getting onto some steeper slopes with only minor avalanche activity in the form of smaller fresh wind drifts releasing from people and some minor sluffing.  Some put a lot of thought and planning into their choice of steeper lines while many others just rolled the dice.  Stability is on the increase but keep in mind that it hasn’t been that long since some large avalanches occurred.  Remember, tracks on a slope are not a sign that the slope is stable.

As we sit on the western side of a high pressure ridge we remain in a northwest flow with moisture spilling over the ridge.  This will produce cloudy skies today with ridgetop temperatures in the mid 20s.  Northwest winds will remain blustery this morning with speeds expected to slow a bit this afternoon.  We’ll have a chance of snow flurries later in the day through Monday with not much accumulation expected.  As of now, there are no chances for snow through the remainder of the week into the weekend.

Yesterday, Wasatch Powderbird Guides had limited operations in American Fork due to windy conditions.  They will try for American Fork and the Cascade ridge today if weather allows.  For details, click here to go directly to their operations planning page.

The Utah Avalanche Center is hosting a Level 2 avalanche class in February which is now open for registration by going to the Black Diamond retail store.  More information is HERE.

Beacon training parks are up and running!  On the Park City side, there is one at the top of Canyon’s gondola, in Little Cottonwood one is near the Snowbird parking structure on the bypass road, and in Big Cottonwood a training  park is at the west end of Solitude's lower parking lot.

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For a text only version, the link is on the left side bar, near the top.

UDOT highway avalanche control work info can be found by calling (801) 975-4838. Our statewide toll free line is 1-888-999-4019 (early morning, option 8).

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Your snow and avalanche observations help everyone in the backcountry community.  Please let us know what you're seeing by leaving a message at (801) 524-5304 or 1-800-662-4140, or email us at uac@utahavalanchecenter.org. (Fax 801-524-6301).

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

Bruce Tremper will update this advisory by 7:30 tomorrow morning.