Provo Avalanche Advisory

Forecaster: Brett Kobernik

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

UDOT will be sighting in their artillary in Provo Canyon today and there will be 15 minute intermittent road closures. As such, a closure is in place for the ice climbs in the Bridal Veil area from Nunn's Park to Frazier Park.

BOTTOM LINE

Danger by aspect and elevation on slopes approaching 35° or steeper.
(click HERE for tomorrow's danger rating)


Danger Rose Tutorial

DANGEROUS AVALANCHE CONDITIONS CONTINUE!! The avalanche danger remains CONSIDERABLE on any steep slope that has buried weak snow. If you do not know what this means or are unable to recognize it, you have no business on or below any steep slope. WITH NICE WEATHER EXPECTED, CONDITIONS ARE RIPE FOR SOMEONE TO TAKE A RIDE THIS WEEKEND!! DON'T LET IT BE YOU!!

CURRENT CONDITIONS

We have cloudy skies with ridgetop temperatures in the upper teens and light northwest winds. Snow surface conditions consist of sun crusted southerly facing slopes with dense powder on northerly aspects and some wind damage on upper elevation westerly aspects.

RECENT ACTIVITY

There were two more unintentionally human triggered avalanches on Thursday bringing the count to six days strait of human triggered slides. One was in the Silver Fork Meadows and one was on the north side of Cardiff Peak. Both failed on faceted snow from earlier in the season. Both had fracture lines of 3 or 4 feet at the deepest spots. It was the second skier on the slope that triggered the slide in the Meadows showing that a tracked slope is not necesarily stable. Large thundering collapses continue to be reported in most backcountry observations. Untouched slopes continue to spiderweb with shooting cracks after being provoked. Shear and propagation tests continue to reveal poor results even on slopes that have collapsed.

THREAT #1
WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

Human triggered avalanches breaking into old weak snow from October and November remains the primary concern. While the temperature gradient has been removed across our buried weak layer (especially in deeper areas) no real increase in strength has been noted with the weakness aside from the fact that some columns will actually stand on their own after being isolated. Many people describe the current situation as "complex" or "tricky" which is true when you consider the spacial variability of the snowpack across the range. However, I submit that it doesn't have to be that complicated. If you're on a steep slope that has pre-existing weak snow (buried facets), there's a good chance you'll trigger an avalanche. This seems fairly simple.

MOUNTAIN WEATHER

We'll have cloudy skies today with ridgetop highs into the mid 20s and light northwest winds. High pressure builds into the weekend with mild temperatures, some clouds and fairly well behaved northwest winds. A storm is shaping up for Tuesday into Wednesday of next week.

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Discount Lift tickets: Ski Utah, Backcountry.com, Alta, Deer Valley, Park City, The Canyons, Wolf Mountain, Snowbasin, Beaver Mountain, Brighton, Sundance, and Solitude have donated a limited number of tickets for sale at discounted prices.

For the Wasatch Powderbird Guides schedule go to their blog

Dawn Patrol Forecast Hotline, updated by 05:30: call 888-999-4019, option 8,

Daily observations are frequently posted by 10 pm each evening.

You can get a free iPhone application from Canyon Sports to display the Bottom Line.

To get a daily avalanche advisory e-mail click HERE.

For a text only version click the upper left link under Search

For canyon closures call UDOT at (801) 975-4838

Send us your avalanche and snow observations. You can also call 801-524-5304 or 800-662-4140, or email to uac@utahavalanchecenter.org

Donate to your favorite non-profit – The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center. The UAC depends on contributions from users like you to support our work.

The information in this advisory is from the U.S. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.

Evelyn Lees will update this forecast on Saturday morning. Thanks for checking in.

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.

This advisory provided by the USDA Forest Service, in partnership with:

The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center, Utah Division of State Parks and Recreation, Utah Division of Emergency Management, Salt Lake County, Salt Lake Unified Fire Authority and the friends of the La Sal Avalanche Center. See our Sponsors Page for a complete list.