SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

TeleVision comes to Park City tonight- see the latest Powderwhores radical version of backcountry skiing on Wednesday, Dec 8, at the Jim Santy Auditorium. Raffle proceeds go to the FUAC. Details at http://utahavalanchecenter.org/event.

The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center will be teaching 1 evening/1 field day introductory and advanced avalanche classes this winter beginning Thursday, Dec 16th. Details on our Education Page.

Snowmobile Avy Awareness talk in Ogden tonight at 6pm. Location: Smith and Edwards- 3936 North hwy 126 Ogden (Far West). Basic avy awareness geared specifically for snowmobilers. We'll also focus on the current state of the snowpack.More details on the home page calendar.

Announcing an online auction for a pair of Black Diamond Drift skis with custom Avy Center graphics. Your choice of 176 or 186 cm. Go to eBay and search for item 320624812251. These were custom built for the FUAC & all proceeds go to forecasting & education in Utah!

BOTTOM LINE

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

Danger Rose Tutorial

Most terrain has a LEVEL 1 (Low) danger. By definition - "Generally safe avalanche conditions. Watch for unstable snow on isolated terrain features." Avoid any obvious pillows of wind blown snow and the steepest sunlight terrain if and when the snow starts to become damp and loose. Accident or injury will center more around (radical) terrain choices over snow stability.

CURRENT CONDITIONS

It doesn’t take a lot of graupel for the mountains to have a fresh coat of paint. Aided by a bit of wind, the Monday/Monday night’s storm of styrofoam pellets filled in old tracks and the nooks and crannies, making for fast and consistent riding conditions on all aspects. Clear skies, light wind and high humidity allowed for some surface hoar development - as you'll see here with Kobernik's stunning photos. The sun had its way with the steeper southerly and westerly aspects, however, and those aspects will sport a nice breakable crust this morning. Winds are generally light to moderate from the west. Ridgetop temperatures are in the low 30s. Just starting to see the first hints of cloud cover across the range.

RECENT ACTIVITY

With good visibility, easy trail-breaking, and primo snow conditions, the crowds raced in to get the classic low hanging fruit and found zero signs of instability or avalanche danger. Ski area teams did, however, manage to trigger a smattering of 6-10” soft slabs in the high northerly terrain, with some notably releasing well off the ridgelines.

THREAT #1

WHERE

PROBABILITY

SIZE

TREND

Over the next 24 hours.

It’s a mostly Low avalanche hazard in the central Wasatch. Very isolated wind drifts up to 10” deep and 50’ wide may still be sensitive to human provocation. Cornice drops, test slopes, and slope cuts should be very indicative of the current conditions in your area. Mind the obvious smooth rounded, pillowy drifts, particularly if you’re pushing into radical terrain. Cornices will continue to be reactive with the warmer temperatures.

The thick, heavily rimed graupel typically isn’t as reactive to the sun and heating as the 5% cold smoke sitting on a hard bed surface. Wet activity was minor in nature, with a few pinwheels and rollerballs noted by the afternoon. It’s already quite warm in the alpine zone – so keep an eye on how the snow is reacting to the sun and increasing cloud cover.

MOUNTAIN WEATHER

High pressure will begin to break down today ahead of a series of weak storms coming in from the west. We’ll see increasing clouds and a drop in temps, with optimistic snow amounts of a trace to one inch through the night. Friday night into Saturday presents the next chance for decent snow amounts. At this time, we may see 5-9” by late Saturday. The ridge builds Sunday into next week.

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

If you trigger an avalanche in the backcountry - especially if you are adjacent to a ski area – please call the following teams to alert them to the slide and whether anyone is missing or not. Rescue teams can be exposed to significant hazard when responding to avalanches, and do not want to do so when unneeded. Thanks.

Salt Lake – Alta Central (801-742-2033)

Ogden – Snowbasin Patrol Dispatch (801-620-1017)

Provo – Sundance Patrol Dispatch (801-223-4150)

Discount Lift tickets: Ski Utah, Backcountry.com, Alta, Deer Valley, Park City, The Canyons, Wolf Mountain, Snowbasin, Beaver Mountain, Brighton, Sundance, and Solitude have donated a limited number of tickets for sale at discounted prices.

Wasatch Powderbird Guides flight plan.

Dawn Patrol Forecast Hotline, updated by 05:30: 888-999-4019 option 8.

Daily observations are frequently posted by 10 pm each evening.

Free UAC iPhone app from Canyon Sports.

Subscribe to the daily avalanche advisory e-mail click HERE.

UDOT canyon closures UDOT at (801) 975-4838

We appreciate all your avalanche and snow observations. You can also call us at 801-524-5304 or 800-662-4140, or email to uac@utahavalanchecenter.org

Donate to your favorite non-profit – The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center. The UAC depends on contributions from users like you to support our work.

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.

We will update this forecast tomorrow morning. Thanks for calling.

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.

Ogden Avalanche Advisory