Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Ogden Area Mountains Issued by Evelyn Lees for Saturday - March 26, 2016 - 7:00am
bottom line

The avalanche danger is mostly LOW, with a MODERATE danger for triggering a wind slab, mostly likely in the high alpine terrain. If the clouds thin or skies clear, the snow will rapidly heat and the danger of wet loose sluffs will increase to MODERATE. It will be possible to trigger these wet loose sluffs on just about all aspects and elevations but high north.




special announcement

Check out the Adventure and Gear Expo on April 8 & 9 at the Southtowne Expo Center. Use the code GOUAC to get a $2 discount on entrance tickets and the Adventure and Gear Expo will donate $2 to the UAC. http://www.adventuregearfest.com/

Drew has posted a new Blog – “In Memoriam”

Spring powder special! We have reduced the price of donated Snowbasin lift tickets to $50 and Sundance tickets to $35, about half of window price. Take advantage of fresh powder on a fat snowpack and benefit the Utah Avalanche Center at the same time. We also have one remaining Snowbird ticket for $84. Every penny spent on these donated tickets benefits the Utah Avalanche Center.
current conditions

Skies in the Ogden area mountains are clear to partly cloudy this morning, and mountain temperatures wintery - only in the teens to low twenties. The winds quieted down as they shifted to the northeast, but are on the increase once again – currently in the 5 to 10 mph range, gusting to 15 mph, with the high peaks averaging close to 20 mph.

An inch of fluff over the past 48 hours isn’t impressive, but stacked on top of the mid week storm (8 to 16” in the Ogden mountains), it means that the northerly facing wind sheltered slopes continue to have good powder. The low elevation snow in the Ogden area mountains has taken a hit from all the warm days, and is completely gone on many of the sunny slopes to about 7,000'.
recent activity

Yesterday morning, a party of 3 heading up the Everest Ridge on Mt Timpanogos turned back due to high winds. As they were glissading down, one member triggered a soft wind slab, and was caught, carried over small cliffs, injured and buried. He was able to dig out his torso himself, and then his 2 companions finished digging him out and competently moved him down to 8,500 feet, where Utah County SAR and Life Flight got him the rest of the way off the mountain. It’s an incident where a small slide had serious consequences due to severe terrain. A few more details HERE.

Summit Post map of Everest Ridge route
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

Triggering a small wind slab is still a concern today, mostly in high alpine terrain. The winds have blown from the northwest recently and are currently from the northeast. So combined with the way the terrain channels the wind into odd places, you need to identify and avoid wind slabs on a variety of aspects, both along the ridge lines and in open bowls.

Cornices go hand in hand with wind slabs – avoid lingering beneath them, and always stay back further from the edge than you think you need to.
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

I’ve got low confidence in what the cloud cover will be today. IF the clouds remain thin or the skies clear where you are and there is significant heating from the sun, the snow will rapidly become damp on almost all aspects and elevations, and roller balls and wet loose sluffs will become easy to initiate and it's time to head to lower angle terrain. Particularly avoid continuously steep terrain or slopes that end in gullies, where even a small wet loose sluff can take you for a long ride or the debris pile up deeply.
weather

It will be a cold day out there – temperatures will remain in the teens at 10,000’ and only warm into the upper 20s at 8,000’. The northerly winds are forecast to increase this morning, before diminishing again this afternoon. Maximum speeds across the highest peaks and ridge lines could average 25 mph, gusting to 35, while average speeds at the mid elevations shouldn’t get much above 15 mph. Skies will remain mostly cloudy today, with a mix of flurries and some clearing this afternoon. Sunday will be warmer and windy, followed by another cold storm on Monday.
general announcements

Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please help us out 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.

To get help in an emergency (to request a rescue) in the Wasatch, call 911.  Be prepared to give your GPS coordinates or the run name. Dispatchers have a copy of the Wasatch Backcountry Ski map.

Backcountry Emergencies. It outlines your step-by-step method in the event of a winter backcountry incident.

If you trigger an avalanche in the backcountry, but no one is hurt and you do not need assistance, please notify the nearest ski area dispatch to avoid a needless response by rescue teams. Thanks.

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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, 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.

Powderbird Helicopter Skiing - Blog/itinerary for the day  

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

Ski Utah mobile snow updates

To those skinning uphill at resorts:  it is critical to know the resort policy on uphill travel.  You can see the uphill travel policy for each resort here. 

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.