Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Provo Area Mountains Issued by Drew Hardesty for Monday - March 24, 2014 - 6:43am
bottom line

We have a mostly LOW danger in the backcountry. Cornices, isolated pockets of shallow wind slab and usual springtime wet loose avalanche activity add to the general hazards of mountain travel. Remember that there is little room for error when skiing and riding in radical terrain and even small sluffs can pose problems in no-fall zones.




special announcement

Thanks for all the love during last Thursday's Love Utah Give Utah Campaign. 97 of you came forward with $4,145 which will help plug some holes in our advisory and education programs next season plus make some website improvements over the summer. Thanks for the notes and best wishes -​

SALE! on all remaining discount lift tickets donated to the Utah Avalanche Center from Snowbasin, the Canyons, Beaver Mountain, Sundance, and Brian Head: The few remaining tickets are being blown out with all proceeds used to pay for avalanche advisories and education. Go here to get your tickets.
current conditions

Skies are clear. Temps are in the mid to low 20s; the northwest winds, however, picked up overnight and are blowing 25mph with gusts to 35 along the highest, most exposed ridgelines.

For springtime, conditions border on the sublime. While the winds may slow some of the corn harvest today, excellent corn can be found on the southeast to south to westerly facing terrain. One can still find soft settled powder in the high northerly terrain.

These are perfect conditions for what Hanscom/Kelner (photo McLean) called SuperTours in their early guides to the backcountry in the Wasatch. But I wonder if they could've imagined skiing the Grunge Couloir, the East Ridge, and the Main Summit of Timpanogos in a single push - totalling almost 30 miles with over 15,000' of elevation gain - as completed by local SkiMo athletes Jason Dorais and Tom Goth. It's the next generation. My own walk from Little Cottonwood to Box Elder, by comparison, was just a walk in the park.

recent activity

No activity to report, though it wasn't without a lack of trying. I mean that facetiously - plenty of lines continue to be hit in the more creative and imaginative terrain.

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

The snowpack is generally stable. You may find some isolated shallow wind slabs in the mid and upper elevations that may be sensitive to a person. Also, there may be minor wet loose snow avalanche activity as the temperatures increase today.

Continue to practice safe backcountry protocols by only putting one person in avalanche terrain at a time and don't linger in avalanche run-out zones.
weather

We'll have clear skies with 8000' temps reaching to the mid-40s, the 10,000' temps reaching to near 30. The moderate to strong northwest winds should start to diminish around or just after lunchtime. Temps continue to warm through tomorrow (reaching the upper 30s at 10,000' Tuesday afternoon) and the southwest winds increase to 35-40mph ahead of a strong cold front expected Wednesday morning. It'll be yet another nice little springtime storm for Wed/Thurs, with 7-10" - perhaps a touch more in favored locations. Unsettled weather continues into the weekend and into early next week.

general announcements

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.

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 (801-223-4150)

EMAIL ADVISORY We have switched to a new SLC email advisory system. If you would like to get the daily advisory by email, or if you have been getting the advisory by email since the beginning of the season and wish to continue, you will need to subscribe here.​  

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.uned.

Wasatch Powderbird Guides Blog/Itinerary for the Day.  

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

Ski Utah mobile snow updates

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.

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 exist.