Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Ogden Area Mountains Issued by Drew Hardesty for Thursday - March 29, 2018 - 7:03am
bottom line

A MODERATE danger exists for wind drifts on many slopes in the mid and upper elevations. Watch for cross-loading onto other aspects and around other terrain features. Avoid the steep sunny aspects by midday and afternoon as they may become wet and unstable.
special announcement

The newest issue of the Powder Cloud, the newsletter of the Utah Avalanche Center is hot off the presses. You can always grab a cup of coffee and while away the time waiting for the winds to subside by looking at new and old issues of the Powder Cloud, other essays, and blogs. Look for them in the menu above or click here.

The UAC Marketplace is still open. Our online marketplace still has deals on skis, packs, airbag packs, beacons, snowshoes, soft goods and much more.

We have lift tickets for Snowbasin and Powder Mountain remaining. The tickets are discounted an additional 20%. Details and order information here. All proceeds from these go towards paying for avalanche forecasting and education!
current conditions

Skies are partly cloudy with mountain temperatures in the upper 20s to mid-30s. Winds along the high ridgelines are northwesterly blowing 25-30mph on Mt Ogden and 25-30mph near James Peak. Mid-elevation anemometers are spinning at 10-15mph with an occasional gust to 30. Ogden skyline snow depths are 44" at 8000' while the mountains "East of Eden" (one of my favorite Steinbeck novels) sit at 56" and 63".

Toby and Paige toured the periphery of Snowbasin Tuesday and their report can be found here.

recent activity

Ski area control teams found easy to manage shallow wind drifts in loaded terrain yesterday.
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

More miles of wind = greater distribution of wind drifts. Pockets of soft and hard wind drifts are now scattered across the range and may be found on many slopes. Look for slightly rounded, smooth pillows and areas with more of a scalloped appearance. Remember that with soft slabs, you're "in" the snow; for hard slabs, you're "on top of" it. Hard slabs have a nasty habit - I think Ev likes to say - of pulling out above you, further narrowing your margin for escape. Treat wind damaged terrain with suspicion today.
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

We feel that the persistent slab issues are trending toward dormancy and human triggered slides are very unlikely. It may take a significant trigger in a thinner weak zone but more likely the poor structure is waiting for another significant weather event, be it precipitation or rapid warming and melting.
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

Remember that risk is inherent in mountain travel. One can never diminish it entirely and for some of us this is part of the attraction. The allure. That the outcome is uncertain. But we can travel in appropriate terrain. And strive to understand snow and avalanches. Dial in the rescue protocol. Work to understand our own and our partners' weaknesses and blindspots. But the world is as it is and it's our destiny to move with that rather than shape it to our own desires and convenience, as this otherwise only brings about all manner of paradox and difficulty.

With that -

Cornices continue to be suspect along the ridgelines.

Shallow damp push-alanches may be possible with daytime warming, particularly in low to mid-elevation wind protected sunlit terrain.

Slide-for-life conditions from last week's rain event also exist in some steep terrain.
weather

For today we'll have partly cloudy skies with the mid-elevations and ridgetop temps rising to the in the mid-30s and mid-20s, respectively. The northwest winds should start to lose steam by late morning. With a warming trend, ridgetop "free air" temps move toward freezing and beyond (mid to upper 30s) by Sunday.

A ridge of high pressure parked off the west coast will keep us under a slowly warming northwest flow for a couple of days until, battered and bruised by near continual storms, it flattens or retrogrades a bit, allowing for more disturbances to move through. None look all that impressive at this time, but it may open the door for something in the near future. Keep an eye on those models. I'm not so sure we're done with winter.
general announcements

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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 occur.