Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Ogden Area Mountains Issued by Evelyn Lees for Tuesday - January 3, 2017 - 7:21am
bottom line

The avalanche danger is MODERATE today on steep, wind drifted slopes at the mid and upper elevations. MODERATE means human triggered slides are possible. If winds speeds increase where you are, the avalanche danger will also increase on the wind-drifted slopes. Out of the wind-affected terrain, the avalanche danger will remain LOW to MODERATE. The most likely place to trigger a shallow new snow slab or sluff would be on a steep, northwest through easterly facing slope.

If you head through a gate or out-of-bounds from a ski resort, you are in the backcountry and in avalanche terrain. You need to be prepared with a beacon, shovel and probe, and the avalanche education to use them and to evaluate the snowpack and terrain. There are LOTS of avalanche classes in the Ogden area mountains this month.




special announcement

Ogden Avalanche Education
The Utah Avalanche Center is hosting a number of avalanche education opportunities in the Ogden area
from January 7th through January 14th. If you are new to the mountains or a seasoned backcountry traveler, there’s a class for you!

Saturday January 7th – 3pm FREE Know Before You Go Avalanche Awareness Presentation
Location: Powder Keg Bar at Powder Mountain

Thursday January 12th – 6pmIntroduction to Avalanches Class (registration is required)
Location: Amer Sports and Snowbasin (Field Day - Saturday January 14th)

Friday January 13th – 12:30pmFREE Beacon ClinicPOW! day at Powder Mountain
Location: Main parking lot at Powder Mountain

Friday January 13th – 5-8pmCompanion Rescue Fundamentals Class (registration is required)
Location: Snowbasin Ski Resort

Friday January 13th – 6pm FREE Know Before You Go Avalanche Awareness Presentation
Location: AD Triple S Motorsports, West Haven, UT

current conditions

The Ogden area mountains received no snow overnight, ended up with a nice 6 to 12” storm total. Skies are partly cloudy to overcast this morning, temperatures are in the single digits to mid teens, and the southwesterly winds are averaging 10 to 15 mph. Mount Ogden is averaging 30 mph, with gusts close to 40.

recent activity

Easily triggered small soft slabs and sluffs were reported from the Ogden area mountains yesterday - new snow only.

Bill Hunt photo - a sluff that ran 100 yards in steep terrain, 8600', N facing.


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

The new wind slabs will still be sensitive today, most widespread in upper elevation terrain. If the wind speeds increase where you are, sensitive drifts will rapidly develop and human triggered slides will be likely on steep slopes. ​ Use small test slopes to gauge the sensitivity of the wind drifts.

Avalanche Problem 2
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

Even out of the wind-affected terrain, the new snow will bond poorly to some of the old snow surfaces, though well to others. Be prepared to trigger new snow sluffs and shallow soft slabs on steep slopes , especially on sheltered, shady slopes.

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

Any of the buried faceted weak layers should still be dormant, but a smaller new snow slide might be able to trigger a deeper slide in the snowpack, especially in a shallower snowpack area. These weak layers can be found around the compass, including some southerly facing slopes with facet-crust sandwiches., and mostly at the upper elevations. They also exist at the mid elevations in the Ogden area mountains around the buried rain crusts.

weather

Skies will be mostly cloudy today, with a few snow flurries possible this morning. Temperatures will warm into the low 20s at 8,000’, and mid-teens along the high ridge lines. The southwesterly winds will be light at the mid elevations, averaging 10 to 15 mph. Across the higher terrain, wind speeds could increase to 25 to 35 mph with gusts in the 40s and 50s.

The next storm will arrive by tomorrow morning, lasting into Thursday morning, with increasing temperatures, wind and heavy dense snow.

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.

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.

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.