Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Ogden Area Mountains Issued by Bruce Tremper for Friday - March 7, 2014 - 6:50am
bottom line

A MODERATE avalanche danger exists in avalanche terrain for storm snow sluffs and slabs, lingering wind slabs from yesterday's wind and damp or wet sluffs from daytime heating by the sun.




special announcement

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

We're up to 4-5 inches of new snow this morning in the Cottonwood Canyon with 2-3 inches in the Ogden and Provo area mountains. We may be able to squeeze out a few more light snow showers this morning, mostly in the Provo area mountains and southward. The new snow water equivalent is around 11%, so slightly on the dense side. Ridge top winds have diminished overnight. Yesterday before the storm, they blew fairly hard from the southwest, but there was not much snow to blow around. With the arrival of the cold front overnight, the winds dropped to around 10 mph from the north-northwest. Temperatures have dropped to the mid 20's.

I've got a short video of the snow conditions from yesterday before the storm arrived.
recent activity

We did not hear about any significant avalanches from yesterday but not a lot of people were out.

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

It's hard to get too excited about 3-5 inches of new snow on a mostly stable, pre-existing snowpack. It shouldn't change the avalanche danger much but I'll still give the usual cautions about storm snow:

Be careful with buried wind slabs from yesterday's moderate to strong, ridge top winds from the southwest. You may find some of these at elevations above about 9,500' or near some lower elevation ridges. They usually have a smooth, rounded shape but remember the new snow overnight may conceal them.

You can easily test how well the new snow is bonded to the old snow by regularly jumping on test slopes and doing slope cuts in low consequence terrain.

Note: I have not colored the danger rose on southerly facing slopes at low elevations because most slopes are bare or have very little snow.
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

This time of year, the strong spring sun can turn the new snow wet in a hurry. So if we get any sun today, practice the elevated caution on the steep, sun exposed slopes as they become damp or soggy. Usually you will see point-release sluffs and rollerballs as the snow goes through a rapid change from dry snow to wet snow. Especially avoid high consequence terrain if the snow becomes damp or wet.
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

I have re-published (with minor edits) Drew Hardesty's excellent comments from the advisory yesterday:

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

We sometimes talk about shallow loose dry and wet sluffs as being manageable by experts...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 when the loose snow gains speed and mass...and the sheer trauma from hitting rocks will kill you if the burial doesn't.

The photos below illustrate the point. Same type of avalanche, completely different outcomes based upon the terrain choices. Left side of the first photo is clearly open with a good runout, the right side of the first photo is steep and confined with a good runout, the right photo is steep, narrow, confined, and ends in a cliff band unless you make the exit to the (looker's right). 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

The storm is mostly over for the Wasatch Range but we may get a few lingering snow showers this morning with partial clearing this afternoon. Temperatures have dropped about 10 degrees from yesterday and will be near freezing at 9,000' and in the low 20's on the ridge tops. The ridge top wind will blow from the northwest 10-20 mph. Skies should be clear overnight and on Saturday, temperatures will rebound to near 40 degrees for a day time high.

The extended forecast calls for warm and sunny on Sunday and Monday and another cold front should arrive around Tuesday morning.
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.

Twitter Updates for your mobile phone - DETAILS

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.