Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Provo Area Mountains Issued by Evelyn Lees for Saturday - March 4, 2017 - 7:11am
bottom line

The avalanche danger is MODERATE today for increasingly widespread hard wind drifts that can be triggered by a person and for wet loose sluffs. The wind slabs will be most widespread on mid and upper elevation slopes, especially those facing northwest through easterly. Wet loose sluffs will become increasingly easy to trigger as the day heats up, on east through south through west facing slopes and on all low elevation slopes.

LOWER danger terrain would be wind sheltered, shady slopes at the mid and upper elevations, with no steep wind drifted slopes above you.




current conditions

Warmth and wind are pummeling our snow pack. After highs in the mid 40s yesterday, temperatures in the Provo mountains are in the upper 30s this morning. The 8 to 9000' winds are from the south, and averaging 20 to 25 mph, with gusts in the 30s. At the 10,000’ stations to the north, the southerly winds are averaging 25 to 30 mph, with gusts in the 40s.

For soft snow, head to the very wind sheltered, shady slopes facing northwest, north and northeast at the mid and upper elevations.

For a great recap of this week’s weather and avalanche activity, check out Greg Gagne’s weekly summary HERE.

recent activity

No recent backcountry observations from the Provo area mountains. In the Salt Lake area mountains, another large cornice fall was reported yesterday near Little Superior Buttress, into Cardiff Fork, probably a natural. There was also a close call in the Y-Not couloir when a small wet loose sluff took skier over a 35' cliff in the choke and then a couple hundred feet down the gully below. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries. A great observation is posted HERE.

Location of Y-Not avalanche. Photo by Rice.

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

Even yesterday, winds were starting to build small hard drifts or slabs at the upper elevations. Today, these wind slabs will be much more widespread, especially on the slopes facing the north half of the compass. You will find the drifts both along mid and upper elevation ridge lines and scattered down into open bowls. These hard slabs may be supportable in one spot and then crack and break out beneath you in another. Look for and avoid these hard smooth slabs on steep slopes. Spin drift avalanches or loose sluffs may occur in steep, rocky terrain.

Avalanche Problem 2
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 10 hours
description

With continued warm temperatures and another day of heating, wet loose sluffs can again be triggered on steep sunny slopes and low to mid elevation northerly facing slopes. Even small wet sluffs can be dangerous in continuously steep or confined terrain like gullies, or if you are above trees, terrain traps or a cliff.

Roof avalanches - with several days of warm weather, any remaining snow and ice on roofs is likely to slide off, resulting in deadly hard and deep piles.

Glide avalanches – Glide avalanches can occur day or night, but the warm weather does seem to encourage them to occur. The neighborhoods where glide avalanches occur are primarily located in Big Cottonwood Canyon and include Broads Fork, Stairs Gulch, and Mill B South, and if you are traveling in those areas, avoid being below any yawning cracks.

Avalanche Problem 3
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

Avoidance is the key with the mammoth cornices that exist this year. Stay way back from the edges - they are breaking far back onto what looks like flat ridge lines. Also, avoid travel below them – if one drops off above you, you could be squashed by one of the huge blocks.

Quino Gonzalez photo - results of a cornice fall near Little Superior Buttress into Cardiff Fork.

weather

We’ve got another 36 hours of warm and windy weather ahead of Sunday night’s cold front. Today, 8000’ temperatures will warm into the low 50s and 10,000’ temperatures remain near freezing. The moderate to strong southerly winds will persist throughout the day, reaching average speeds of 30 to 40 mph, with gusts in the 50s at times, along the 10,000’ ridge lines. After another windy day Sunday, the strong cold front Sunday night should be an excellent refresher with a foot or more of snow and cold temperatures.

general announcements

Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please help us out 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 request 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.

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DAWN PATROL Hotline updated daily by 5-530am - 888-999-4019 option 8.

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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

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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.