Join us for Vertfest 2015, a weekend of riding, mountaineering, and avalanche skills clinics and the Wasatch Powder Keg Ski Mountaineering race at Brighton Mar 7 & 8. This is a great way to boost your mountain skills with some inexpensive half-day clinics led by pros. There will be gear giveaway and live music. Details here.

Yesterday was a full-on feeding frenzy with hoards of powder-starved folks out tracking up most of the popular slopes. It's amazing how two months of absence makes the heart grow fonder. The foot or less of new snow settled and stiffened a bit by later in the day and most of the slopes that face into the sun got sun crusted by late in the day. Temperatures remain cold this morning in the single digits. Even though ferocious canyon winds continue to blow at the canyon mouths, the wind in the mountains remains much more reasonable but still picked up overnight blowing up to 30, gusting to 40 on the exposed peaks from the east and southeast. It seems to be mostly a high elevation phenomenon and the mid and lower elevations remain much more calm. Skies are clear.

Yes, this is the backcountry. The new snow was well loved on Sunday. Cardiff Fork is pretty well tracked out. Bruce Tremper photo

Although most slopes were tracked up without incident, there was a couple notable avalanches:

A lone skier triggered a small, wet avalanche on the south face of Superior late in the day, which knocked him off his feet and washed him over a couple cliffs in steep terrain. He was OK and was able to get himself down. He filed a great report HERE.

Also, a guide with WPG intentionally ski cut a wind slab in the Session Mountains yesterday. Report HERE.

Logan Cookler photo

Ferocious canyon winds continue to blow at low elevation canyon mouths from Salt Lake northwards, but the wind in the mountains is much more reasonable but still strong enough to create wind slab problems. The high elevation automated weather stations are showing wind 30, gusting to 40 from the east and southeast. Temperatures will remain cool with single digits this morning, rising to the mid 20's today, then back into the single digits again overnight. Skies should be mostly clear but we could get a few mountain clouds with the east winds.

For the extended forecast, we should see nice weather again on Tuesday and warming into the mid 30's. Then, we have a weak disturbance on Wednesday and this weekend it looks like a pulse of moisture coming into southern Utah from California that may make it into northern Utah. Stay tuned.

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, 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  If you would like to get the daily advisory by email 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, or on Twitter, follow @UDOTavy, @CanyonAlerts or @AltaCentral

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

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.  You can see the uphill travel policy for each resort here. IMPORTANT: Before skinning or hiking 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.