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Very dangerous conditions exist in the backcountry.

There is a CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger for triggering deep slab avalanches and a MODERATE danger for triggering any new or old wind drifts. It’s not HIGH danger anymore, but the travel recommendations remain the same. I’d avoid the steep west to north to southeast facing slopes at the mid and upper elevations.

There is great powder for turning and riding on shady, mid and upper elevation low angle slopes.

It’s gonna be one of those days - Bluebird, light wind, 5 star powder (for this year anyway). Truth be told, it’s also days like these where we see avalanche accidents. Discipline, self-denial – these are things we not only aspire to – it’s what keeps us alive in conditions like these. Even – perhaps especially – if you see other tracks on the slope. Or that others are getting away with it. It has applications in other parts of our lives as well.

There is still excellent riding, turning and snowshoeing in powder on low angle shady slopes at the mid and higher elevations. With yesterday’s heating and direct sun, the sunny slopes will be crusted over this morning, though softening by midday. We walked past countless steep untracked powder slopes yesterday, shook our heads, and said, ‘Ain’t it a shame.’

Today’s the 125th anniversary of the largest recorded snowflake on record – a 15” diameter monster "observed" in eastern Montana in 1887. The old timer said it about knocked over his milk-cow Bessie.

We heard of no new activity in the Provo area mountains... but in the Central Wasatch - Yesterday was quite active with avalanches releasing into both new and old snow layering. Mark Hammond found a few natural soft slabs in upper Maybird of LCC while others in upper LCC saw results of UDOT control work in the new snow in south facing terrain. Others –

· Skier triggered wind slab in Toledo Chute (Upper LCC) - a steep southeast facing line at 10,200’. It looked to be 1’ deep and 45’ wide, running maybe 700’.

· Deep slab release in the Red Cliffs along the Park City ridgeline in the Canyons backcountry pulled out 3’ deep and 100’ wide. It’s an east facing slope at 9600’ and unknown whether it was remotely triggered from above or whether a natural cornice fall triggered the slide.

· We intentionally dropped a cornice in Upper Days Fork of BCC, triggering a deep slab avalanche 3’ deep and 200’ wide. It was on a steep northerly slope at 10,100’. This was a repeater – just but one piece of the ½ mile slide Kobernik and I triggered exactly one week earlier.

· Snow safety teams at the ski areas and explosive testing by the Wasatch Powderbird Guides continue to pull out very large deep slab avalanches with explosives in steep uncompacted northerly to easterly facing terrain at highest elevations.

Propagating spooky collapses also reported in mid-elevation shady Big Cottonwood terrain…

Photo of new wind slab triggered in the Toledo Chutes...

Photo below of Deep Slab in Red Cliffs (top) and Days (below)

Should be a nice day in the hills with clear skies, temps rising to the low 20s at 10,000’ and the low 30s at 8000’. Moderate to stronger west to northwesterly winds should persist through the day, but be confined to the highest elevations. Tomorrow looks like a carbon copy of today. A few minor storms are on tap next week – perhaps late Monday and again mid-week.

Salt Lake – Alta Central (801-742-2033)

Ogden – Snowbasin Patrol Dispatch (801-620-1017)

Provo – Sundance Patrol Dispatch (801-223-4150)

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

Daily observations are frequently posted by 10 pm each evening.

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UDOT canyon closures UDOT at (801) 975-4838

Wasatch Powderbird Guides does daily updates about where they'll be operating on this blog http://powderbird.blogspot.com/ .

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We will update this forecast tomorrow morning. Thanks for calling.