Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Provo Area Mountains Issued by Drew Hardesty for Saturday - December 26, 2015 - 7:21am
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The danger is CONSIDERABLE. Natural avalanches are possible, human triggered avalanches 2-5' deep are likely. Today and tomorrow are classic avalanche accident conditions. Remember that these avalanches may be triggered from adjacent terrain or below. Shallow new snow wind drifts and longer running sluffs may be initiated in the steepest exposed terrain today.

Terrain management is key today. Safer and still 5-star powder can be found on slopes less steep than 30 degrees with nothing steeper above.




special avalanche bulletin

I've issued a Special Avalanche Advisory for the mountains of northern Utah.  Note that the Avalanche Warning continues for the mountains of central Utah.  

THIS SPECIAL AVALANCHE ADVISORY IS FOR THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN UTAH, TO INCLUDE SOUTHEAST IDAHO, THE BEAR RIVER RANGE, THE WASATCH RANGE, AND THE WESTERN UINTAS.

HEAVY SNOW AND STRONG WINDS HAVE LED TO DANGEROUS AVALANCHE CONDITIONS WITH MANY AVALANCHES BREAKING TO THE GROUND. AVOID BEING ON OR BENEATH STEEP TERRAIN AS THESE AVALANCHES MAY BE TRIGGERED FROM BELOW.

special announcement

INTERMITTENT ROAD CLOSURES ARE IN PLACE THIS MORNING FOR AVALANCHE WORK. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO -

It's worth looking at the report of an accident in the Tetons linked off our Facebook page here.

Tip your hat to the men and women of the avalanche safety teams of the mountain resorts and the Utah Department of Transportation. They've worked hard to open terrain and state roads so you can enjoy the Greatest Snow on Earth.

If you're heading to the resorts, support the UAC and get your lift tickets here - Details here

current conditions

With clearing skies under a Christmas moon, overnight temperatures dropped below zero and into the single digits along the ridgelines and at the trailheads. In the wake of the storm, winds now blow from the north and northeast with hourly averages in the 10-15mph range along most ridgelines with anemometers spinning at 30mph with gusts to 45 in the most exposed ridgelines.

Wow. Storm totals since the 20th are roughly 55-70" in the Cottonwoods, 45-55" along the Park City ridgeline, and 40-50" in the Ogden and Provo area mountains.

recent activity

More and more and even more reports of natural avalanches from the storm filter in. Many of these avalanches are 2-5' deep and not limited to classic upper elevation northerly terrain. Avalanche control work at the resorts continue to pull out avalanches to the ground. We've had five very close calls with two injured skiers since the 19th. Our avalanche list can be found here.

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

These are Deep Slabs now and while we're trending toward a low probability-high consequence regime, we're not there yet. There are 3 bullets in the chamber now instead of 6. What makes this difficult is that many slopes have run during the storm, many are waiting for a trigger, and some have gained enough strength that they are unlikely to be triggered. Which are which? My fear is that now that the natural avalanche cycle is mostly over, the human triggered cycle will begin.

  • Remember that most avalanches occur during the storm, most accidents occur on the sunny days after the storm. It's no accident that most fatalities occur during Considerable danger.
  • Terrain selection is key. Trent has a quick psa on his ob from yesterday here.

weather

We'll have mostly sunny skies, temps struggling into the single digits, and light to moderate northeast winds. Tomorrow also looks beautiful with slightly warmer temps and lighter easterly winds. A disorganized storm moves in from the northwest late Monday that should provide a few more inches of snow. The Dreaded January Ridge (DJR) begins to build on Thursday.

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, email by clicking HERE, or include #utavy in your tweet or Instagram.

To get help in an emergency (to launch a rescue) in the Wasatch, call 911.  Be prepared to give your GPS coordinates or the run name. Dispatchers have a copy of the Wasatch Backcountry Ski map.

Backcountry Emergencies. It outlines your step-by-step method in the event of a winter backcountry incident.

If you trigger an avalanche in the backcountry, but no one is hurt and you do not need assistance, please notify the nearest ski area dispatch to avoid a needless response by rescue teams. Thanks.

Salt Lake and Park City – Alta Central (801-742-2033), Canyons Resort/PCMR Dispatch (435)615-1911

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.

Powderbird Helicopter Skiing - Blog/itinerary for the day

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

Ski Utah mobile snow updates

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.