Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Ogden Area Mountains Issued by Drew Hardesty for Saturday - January 13, 2018 - 7:27am
bottom line

Areas of CONSIDERABLE danger exist mainly in the upper elevation northerly through easterly aspects. A MODERATE danger exists in the higher mid-elevation elevation bands. Human triggered sides may be up to 1-2' deep and may be triggered from below.

If you're headed into the backcountry - or exiting though the gates at the ski area - you must have the proper gear, training, and skilled partners. Chance and hope are poor risk management strategies.

PSA - Be aware of other parties in the backcountry - you would never would want to accidentally trigger a slide onto a party below - by remotely triggering a slide or kicking a cornice.
special avalanche bulletin

THE FOREST SERVICE UTAH AVALANCHE CENTER IN SALT LAKE CITY HAS ISSUED A BACKCOUNTRY AVALANCHE SPECIAL BULLETIN.

* TIMING…IN EFFECT FROM 9 PM MST FRIDAY TO 9 PM MST MONDAY

* AFFECTED AREA…FOR THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN UTAH INCLUDING THE WASATCH RANGE...BEAR RIVER RANGE...UINTA MOUNTAINS.

* AVALANCHE DANGER…DANGEROUS HUMAN TRIGGERED AVALANCHES REMAIN LIKELY.

* IMPACTS…BEAUTIFUL WEATHER OVER THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND AND RECENT FRESH POWDER SNOW WILL LEAD TO A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN PUBLIC USE IN THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN UTAH. SNOWPACK, WEATHER, AND HUMAN CONDITIONS ARE PERFECTLY ALIGNED FOR A POTENTIAL ACCIDENT THIS WEEKEND. MANY SLOPES, ESPECIALLY ONES ABOVE 8000 FT WITH A NORTHERLY THROUGH EASTERLY ASPECT, ONLY NEED A SKIER OR RIDER TO TRIGGER AN AVALANCHE 2-3 FEET DEEP AND SEVERAL HUNDRED FEET WIDE.

THIS WARNING DOES NOT APPLY TO SKI AREAS WHERE AVALANCHE HAZARD REDUCTION MEASURES ARE PERFORMED.
current conditions

Morning cloud cover should dissipate soon. Temps are in the mid to upper 20s; winds are west to northwest blowing 15-20mph with higher speeds along the crest of the Ogden skyline. Above 8000', riding and travel conditions are fast on Thursday's couple inches of new capped with a thin rime crust. Wind eroded terrain down to the early week rain crust are slippery at best. Upper elevations have 2-3' of total snow. The riming event from the past couple days has been impressive.
recent activity

There were no reports of avalanches from the backcountry yesterday, but explosive control work along the Ogden skyline pulled out a large hard slab avalanche.

Improved visibility yesterday allowed observers to note the signicant avalanche cycle along the Ben Lomond to Willard Peak headwall from earlier in the week.

Observations here and here.

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

A poor snowpack structure exists above about 8300' and most pronounced on the northerly through easterly aspects. Cracking, collapsing, snow tests and explosive control work offer testimony to areas of unstable snow. Careful snowpack evaluation and cautious route-finding is required.

weather

Mostly cloudy skies this morning should start to burn off soon. We'll have winds out of the northwest, blowing 10-15mph. Ridgetop temps will rise toward the upper 20s. High pressure builds in over the next several days with a couple storms on the horizon - one for mid-week and another for the weekend. More info on our Mountain Weather page, updated by noon.
general announcements

CLICK HERE FOR MORE GENERAL INFO AND FAQ

Support the UAC through your daily shopping. When you shop at Smith's, or online at REI, Backcountry.com, Patagonia, NRS, Amazon, eBay a portion of your purchase will be donated to the FUAC. See our Donate Page for more details on how you can support the UAC when you shop.

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 occur.