Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Provo Area Mountains Issued by Drew Hardesty for Friday - December 27, 2013 - 7:22am
bottom line

Pockets of CONSIDERABLE danger exist above about 8500' in steep westerly to northerly to easterly facing terrain. Human triggered slides up to 2-3'+ are likely and may be triggered at a distance. Dangerous conditions exist - thus the continued Special Avalanche Bulletin. Safe and excellent riding can be found on slopes less steep than about 35 degrees and not locally connected to steeper terrain above or adjacent to you.

Carry the rescue gear and travel one-at-a-time through suspect terrain.




special avalanche bulletin

THIS SPECIAL AVALANCHE ADVISORY IS FOR THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN UTAH TO INCLUDE THE WESTERN UINTAS. DANGEROUS AVALANCHE CONDITIONS EXIST IN THE STEEP WEST TO NORTH TO EAST FACING TERRAIN. HUMAN TRIGGERED AVALANCHES 1-3 FEET DEEP ARE LIKELY. THIS SPECIAL AVALANCHE ADVISORY WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEKEND.
special announcement

Yesterday marked the first two avalanche fatalities in the US. They occurred in Wyoming and along the Wyoming/Idaho border.

  • A 29 year old skier was killed in out of bounds terrain south of the Jackson Hole Village ski area in very steep east facing terrain called the Pucker Face. He reportedly triggered the slide which buried him for an unreported amount of time.
  • A 39 year old man was killed snowmobiling in the Palisades Peak area above Swan Valley along the WY/ID border. He was reportedly the 4th person on the slope when it released, burying him for over 10 minutes.
current conditions

Skies are clear, temps are in the mid to upper 20s up high, the mid-teens down low. Winds are generally less than 15mph in all locations. Riding conditions are quite good. In sheltered northerly terrain, an inch or three of graupel sits above a hardly noticeable wafer-thin rime crust from the 22nd. Southeast through westerly aspects host a breakable melt-freeze crust this morning that should soften with daytime heating. Should be another excellent day in the hills.
recent activity

Avalanche mitigation work with explosives in uncompacted terrain at the mountain resorts continues to pull out slides 2-3' deep into old faceted snow.

A late report trickled in from Christmas Day of a ski party that triggered three pockets up to 2' deep and 50' wide in steep northwest facing terrain at 10,000' there in Hide-Away Park in upper Days Fork. MORE INFO.

Cracking and collapsing was more the exception than the rule, though backcountry skiers noted this in west-northwest facing terrain at 9500' in the Willows drainage of Big Cottonwood Canyon.

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

Ah, the waiting game. The Stanford Marshmallow Experiment was a set of tests that gave children an option of a small treat if they wanted it immediately, but a much better treat if they delayed gratification. To make a long story short, the researchers followed the course of the lives of many of the children and found an interesting correlation: the researchers found that children who were able to wait longer for the preferred rewards tended to have better life outcomes.*

It is an interesting time to observe a slowly adjusting snowpack and look to see whether we are equally patient in our terrain choices. Avalanche activity becomes less frequent, obvious clues such as cracking and collapsing become less commonplace, and snow tests offer something perhaps well represented by the photo below.

It should be noted that - as just described - the party that triggered the slides in HideAway park had no signs of instability and inconsistent test results; yet were aware of the structure and hazard. Yet they chose manageable terrain and followed safe travel rituals (one at a time) and executed ski cuts, working the terrain.

Avalanche Problem 2
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 12 hours
description

Direct sun and warm temps aloft will allow for minor wet avalanching with provocation on the steepest sunlight slopes. Really only a factor if in radical terrain today, folks.
weather

Clear and sunny. Temps to the 30s and 40s. Light northwesterly winds. A weak storm will bump the winds and drop the temps tomorrow and Sunday with a few optimistic flurries at best. Weather models hint at a weak storm for Tues/Wed with at most 2-4" in the cards.
general announcements

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.

If you trigger an avalanche in the backcountry - especially if you are adjacent to a ski area – please call the following teams to alert them to the slide and whether anyone is missing or not. Rescue teams can be exposed to significant hazard when responding to avalanches, and do not want to do so when unneeded. Thanks.

Salt Lake and Park City – Alta Central (801-742-2033), Canyons Resort Dispatch (435-615-3322)

Snowbasin Resort Dispatch (801-620-1017), Powder Mountain Dispatch (801-745-3772 x 123).

Sundance Dispatch (801-231-4150)

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

Utah Avalanche Center mobile app - Get your advisory on your iPhone along with great navigation and rescue tools.

We'll soon be lining up a new automated emailed advisory delivery system - stay tuned.

Wasatch Powderbird Guides Blog/Itinerary for the Day.  They'll be up and running later this winter -

Lost or Found something in the backcountry? - http://nolofo.com/

Discount lift tickets are now available at Backcountry.com - Thanks to Ski Utah and the Utah Resorts.  All proceeds go towards paying for Utah Avalanche Center avalanche and mountain weather advisories.

To those skinning uphill at resorts:  it is your responsibility to know the resort policy on uphill travel.  Some allow uphill travel and have guidelines, some don't. Contact the Ski Patrol at each resort for details. IMPORTANT: Before skinning at a resort under new snow conditions, check in with Ski Patrol.  Resorts can restrict or cut off access if incompatible with control and grooming operations.

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.

Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please participate in the creation of our own community avalanche advisory by submitting snow and avalanche conditions. You can also call us at 801-524-5304 or 800-662-4140, email by clicking HERE, or include #utavy in your tweet or Instagram.