Advisory: Ogden Area Mountains | utahavalanchecenter.org

Avalanche Advisory

Advisory: Ogden Area Mountains	Issued by Drew Hardesty for Thursday - March 6, 2014 - 7:17am

bottom line

A full MODERATE danger exists in the steep newly wind drifted terrain up high, the warm soggy and unsupportable areas in the mid and low elevations. Human triggered avalanches are possible.

special announcement

Tonight 6pm at the Wildflower Lounge at Snowbird- GEOFFREY TABIN Impossible Dreams – The East Face of Everest and Eradicating World Blindness Geoffrey Tabin, M.D. is a Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and director of International Ophthalmology at the John A. Moran Eye Center -University of Utah; and Founding Chairman of the Himalayan Cataract Project. Utah Adventure Journal Speaker Series is free of charge. Only guests 21+ are permitted into the Wildflower Lounge.

First annual VertFest and 11th annual PowderKeg. Join us March 8th and 9th at Brighton Resort. There will be gear demos, a series of backcountry skills clinics, free beacon clinics, a party featuring the band Salem from Boulder, CO and a great gear raffle. The VertFest is a benefit for the Utah Avalanche Center. Click Here for more info.

Show That You Know the Snow: US & Canadian avy groups have a challenge to sidecountry riders: Use your camera to tell a short video story about how your crew gets ready to safely ride beyond the resort boundary. Videos will be posted & promoted by GoPro & other partners. The contest will run till Mar 21. The winner will be determined by a combination of most views & an expert panel. Prizes include: 2 days at Monashee Powder Snowcats, 2 4-day Gold Passes to any US resort, a Backcountry Access Float 22 airbag, gear fromBackcountry.com, editing help and support from Sherpas Cinema, & more. Winners will be announced in late March. Details atknowthesnow.com Please share this with your friends.

current conditions

Yesterday was one to write home about. Bluebird, light wind, warming temps, excellent skiing and riding, with many many lines hit with impunity. It was noted that it looked like the Freeride Comp was taking place in the backcountry rather than across the street. (See Mark White photo below).

That was yesterday. This morning, it's mostly cloudy to overcast, winds have picked up from the southwest to the tune of 35-40mph along the Ogden skyline, and - for many stations in the mid to low elevations, current temps register as 24 hour 'highs'. Cloud cover is to blame, along with continued warm air streaming in aloft. The next storm is on the doorstep. Temps are in the mid 20s up high, the mid to upper 30s at the mid and low elevations.

Sun damage was general and all slopes on the lower end of the compass as well as the northerlies with angles > 20 degrees will have a nice breakable crust this morning.

recent activity

Most of the activity centered on what you see in the photo above - dry sluffs...and in the steep sunny terrain, wet sluffs. These are significantly more manageable to experienced backcountry travelers than, say, the 9' deep slab to the ground that released with explosives in un-compacted (has seen little to no skier traffic) at one of the resorts in the Cottonwoods yesterday. This in steep northerly upper elevation terrain and unlikely to be triggered by a person on snowshoes, skis, splitboard, or snowmobile...amongst all the various b/c travel implements these days.

Avalanche Problem 1

type	aspect/elevation	characteristics
		LIKELIHOOD LIKELY UNLIKELY SIZE LARGE SMALL TREND INCREASING DANGER SAME DECREASING DANGER over the next 12 hours
description Increased pre-"frontal" winds will erode and deposit like always - and you'll likely find some shallow, if somewhat sensitive drifts in the steep northerly through easterly terrain with drifts perhaps terrain-channeled and cross-loaded into the lee of sub-ridges and gulley sidewalls. There isn't much to drift on the southerly aspects; however winds have a knack for finding loose snow to transport.

Avalanche Problem 2

type	aspect/elevation	characteristics
		LIKELIHOOD LIKELY UNLIKELY SIZE LARGE SMALL TREND INCREASING DANGER SAME DECREASING DANGER over the next 12 hours
description Wet avalanches will be a bit tricky today - many areas peripheral to the Cottonwoods experienced a poor - if marginal at all - refreeze overnight. Continued warming will exacerbate the problem, particularly in areas sheltered from the wind (ie- northerly terrain). Note if the snow is punch, soggy, or damp and make terrain choices as if you expect to trigger shallow wet avalanches - that can pose a problem if the debris ends in a terrain trap and piles up more deeply (steep-walled gulley or creek, bench or transition on a slope, etc).

Avalanche Problem 3

type	aspect/elevation	characteristics
		LIKELIHOOD LIKELY UNLIKELY SIZE LARGE SMALL TREND INCREASING DANGER SAME DECREASING DANGER over the next 24 hours
description A word on terrain and consequences. Clearly, when the snowpack trends more stable, people tend to push into bigger terrain (most of the UAC included). Part of this has to do with skiing and riding ability as well as avalanche experience...just like anything else. We often talk about shallow loose dry and wet sluffs as being manageable...but part of this is a function of your terrain. Steep, long, confined chutes and couloirs - some exhilarating, some terrifying - leave little room for error as there are few places to hide, the loose snow gains steam and mass...and the sheer trauma from a ride will kill you if the burial doesn't. I won't labor on this point - but the photos below are perfect. Compare the terrain on the left, center, and right. Same type of avalanche, completely different outcomes based upon the terrain choices. Left is clearly open with a good runout, center is steep and confined with a good runout, right is well - steep, narrow, confined, and ends in a cliffband unless you make the exit to the (skier's/rider's left). Don't get me wrong - I like this type of terrain as well (on my days off of course)...just making a point. In some terrain there can be no mistakes.

type

aspect/elevation

characteristics

LIKELIHOOD

LIKELY

UNLIKELY

SIZE

LARGE

SMALL

TREND

INCREASING DANGER

SAME

DECREASING DANGER

over the next 24 hours

description

A word on terrain and consequences. Clearly, when the snowpack trends more stable, people tend to push into bigger terrain (most of the UAC included). Part of this has to do with skiing and riding ability as well as avalanche experience...just like anything else.

We often talk about shallow loose dry and wet sluffs as being manageable...but part of this is a function of your terrain. Steep, long, confined chutes and couloirs - some exhilarating, some terrifying - leave little room for error as there are few places to hide, the loose snow gains steam and mass...and the sheer trauma from a ride will kill you if the burial doesn't.

I won't labor on this point - but the photos below are perfect. Compare the terrain on the left, center, and right. Same type of avalanche, completely different outcomes based upon the terrain choices. Left is clearly open with a good runout, center is steep and confined with a good runout, right is well - steep, narrow, confined, and ends in a cliffband unless you make the exit to the (skier's/rider's left). Don't get me wrong - I like this type of terrain as well (on my days off of course)...just making a point. In some terrain there can be no mistakes.

weather

We'll have warm and breezy conditions and some periods of precipitation today with a rain/snowline commencing as high as 8000'...then dropping through the night. Temps will be in the low 30s at 10,000', the low 40s at 8000'. Winds will be from the southwest and west blowing 20-30...then veer to the northwest and remain in the moderate category by late afternoon/early evening. Optimistic snowfall amounts are in the 4-8" range through early Friday with clearing expected for the weekend.

general announcements

Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please participate in the creation of our own community avalanche advisory by submitting snow and avalanche conditions. You can also call us at 801-524-5304 or 800-662-4140, email by clicking HERE, or include #utavy in your tweet or Instagram.

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 and Park City – Alta Central (801-742-2033), Canyons Resort Dispatch (435-615-3322)

Snowbasin Resort Dispatch (801-620-1017), Powder Mountain Dispatch (801-745-3772 x 123).

Sundance Dispatch (801-223-4150)

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DAWN PATROL Hotline updated daily by 5-530am - 888-999-4019 option 8.

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UDOT canyon closures: LINK TO UDOT

Utah Avalanche Center mobile app - Get your advisory on your iPhone along with great navigation and rescue tools.uned.

Wasatch Powderbird Guides Blog/Itinerary for the Day.

Lost or Found something in the backcountry? - http://nolofo.com/

Ski Utah mobile snow updates

Discount lift tickets are now available at Backcountry.com - Thanks to Ski Utah and the Utah Resorts. All proceeds go towards paying for Utah Avalanche Center avalanche and mountain weather advisories.

To those skinning uphill at resorts: it is your responsibility to know the resort policy on uphill travel. Some allow uphill travel and have guidelines, some don't. Contact the Ski Patrol at each resort for details. IMPORTANT: Before skinning at a resort under new snow conditions, check in with Ski Patrol. Resorts can restrict or cut off access if incompatible with control and grooming operations.

Benefit the Utah Avalanche Center when you shop from Backcountry.com or REI: Click this link for Backcountry.com or this link to REI, shop, and they will donate a percent of your purchase price to the UAC. Both offer free shipping (with some conditions) so this costs you nothing!

Benefit the Utah Avalanche Center when you buy or sell on ebay - set the Utah Avalanche Center as a favorite non-profit in your ebay account here and click on ebay gives when you buy or sell. You can choose to have your seller fees donated to the UAC, which doesn't cost you a penny.

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 exist.

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