Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Ogden Area Mountains Issued by Drew Hardesty for Saturday - January 10, 2015 - 6:30am
bottom line

The avalanche danger is mostly Low. Human triggered avalanches are unlikely but not impossible. Some risk is always inherent in mountain travel.




current conditions

Partly becoming mostly cloudy. Temps in the upper 20s to low 30s. Generally light westerly wind. Ogden Peak is blowing 25 with gusts to 30.

It's all-you-can eat crust skiing and riding out there, folks.

Wind crust, rime crust, melt freeze crust - supportable, breakable, trap-door and rail-road.

recent activity

With respect to the heat and sun-related activity, the last cold snow avalanches (that we heard about) were on Sunday and Tuesday in the Salt Lake mountains and perhaps Monday near the North Ogden Divide. These were on northerly to northeasterly aspects and stepping to the mid-pack weaknesses from early December and/or the ground.

We've had no reports of other obvious signs of instability in days.

Avalanche Problem 1
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

Don't be fooled by the green on the rose. Here are the primary concerns -

  • Slide-for-life potential on the steep southerly aspects.
  • Northwest through easterly terrain; especially in thinner, rocky terrain. The name persistent slab is well deserved.
  • Maybe a random pocket of hard wind slab in the high alpine terrain.

These types of avalanches are unlikely, but not impossible.

weather

We'll have partly becoming mostly cloudy skies with light to moderate southwesterly wind. Temps will be in the mid to upper 30s. A generally moist west to southwesterly system moving through over the weekend should provide a trace to two here and there. A building ridge in the Pacific (centered over the 130W meridian) will organize things in a more northwesterly flow for Monday/Tuesday, where we stand a better chance for a 3-6" refresher.

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, 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)

EMAIL ADVISORY  If you would like to get the daily advisory by email you will need to subscribe here.​ 

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, or on Twitter, follow @UDOTavy, @CanyonAlerts or @AltaCentral

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

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.  You can see the uphill travel policy for each resort here. IMPORTANT: Before skinning or hiking 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.

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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.