There is a MODERATE avalanche danger which means there is a MODERATE chance you can find and trigger an avalanche that could cause harm. MODERATE means human triggered avalanches are possible. If you are unable to positively identify whether a wind deposited slab exists over faceted snow, you should avoid the mid and upper elevation northerly facing terrain. In areas where there is no slab and just piles of loose faceted snow, expect the snow to sluff on the steepest more sustained slopes.

It was another epic night for constructive metamorphism (faceting) of the surface snow; cold, calm and clear. Most stations are reading right around 10 degrees and there are light northwest winds.

There was one skier triggered avalanche on Wednesday with no one caught. It was 2 feet deep, 40 feet wide and ran about 250 feet. It was on a steep northeast facing slope near Twin Lakes pass. DETAILS Also on Wednesday, the Park City snow safety were able to release avalanches breaking deep into the weak facets in terrain that has not been opened yet. They will be doing more control work around the Jupiter chairlift today. My partner and I stumbled onto another avalanche in Scotts Bowl along the Park City ridgeline that looks like it was triggered this past Sunday or Monday by a snowshoe rabbit making it a “hare trigger”. His tracks led into the 8 inch deep and 30 foot wide fracture indicating he may have gone for the 400 foot ride to the bottom of the bowl. It’s speculated that he was a very experienced backcountry traveler. He either disregarded or was not aware of an adjacent avalanche that was still visible from last week. It appears he underestimated the slope angle or the weak layer or both. We believe he entered the starting zone without doing any stability tests. It’s unknown whether he consulted the avalanche advisory that morning. We know he was not wearing the proper rescue gear so finding the body will be difficult but, often in these cases, coyotes (who are untrained but very efficient in body recovery) will perform a search of the debris pile and locate the victim. DETAILS

We have another beautiful day in store with mostly clear skies and temperatures getting into the mid 20s at 8000 feet. Northwest winds will be light to start out but may increase to a moderate speed afternoon. It looks like a few more days of nice weather before a small storm moves through on about Monday which should give us a little snow accumulation.

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)

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

Daily observations are frequentlypostedby 10 pm each evening.

Subscribe to the daily avalanche advisory e-mail clickHERE.

UDOT canyon closuresUDOTat (801) 975-4838

Wasatch Powderbird Guides are suspending the opening of helicopter skiing operations. Once we have enough snow cover, daily updates to this bloghttp://powderbird.blogspot.com/will begin for the 2011-2012 season.

You have the opportunity to participate in the creation of our own community avalanche advisory by submittingavalanche and snow observations. You can also call us at 801-524-5304 or 800-662-4140, or email by clickingHERE

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