Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Provo Area Mountains Issued by Drew Hardesty for Tuesday - December 19, 2017 - 6:53am
bottom line

The avalanche danger is LOW – but small avalanches can be triggered in isolated areas or extreme terrain. The most likely avalanche to trigger would be a small, shallow wind drift at the highest elevations.
special announcement

Don’t know what to buy your favorite skier for Christmas? Discount lift tickets for Alta, Snowbird, Brighton, Solitude, Deer Valley, Snowbasin,and Beaver Mountain are now available, donated by the resorts to benefit the Utah Avalanche Center. Details and order information here. These make a great holiday gift and all proceeds go towards paying for avalanche forecasting and education!
current conditions

Skies are mostly cloudy with mountain temps in the mid-20s. Winds are west to northwesterly blowing 10mph.

The low to mid elevation slopes in the Provo area mountains below about 9500' are mostly bare, with only patchy snow. On shady, upper elevation slopes, total snow on the ground was around a foot deep when Drew went up to Primrose cirque at the beginning of the month. There looks to be a bit more snow on Cascade Ridge. See Mark's photo collage of the Provo mountains from Saturday.
recent activity

None.
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

Though the avalanche danger is LOW, small avalanches can still be triggered in isolated places.

The snowpack on the upper elevation, shady slopes consists of weak crusts and sugary faceted snow. This is a concern for the future when we finally get snow. For now, it’s amazing just to dig your hand into the snow and see how loose and weak it is.

weather

We'll have initially clear skies with builing clouds in the early afternoon. Temperatures will be reaching near freezing along the ridgelines. Winds will be 15-20mph from the west. Strong southwest pre-frontal winds kick in later this afternoon, heralding an approaching cold front for through Wednesday midday. Expect 2-5" possible, though it'll be very low density - just enough to cover up, but not smooth over, the old ruts, crusts, and thinly buried obstacles. Mountain temps plummet to the low single digits on Thursday, with a colder, drier storm on tap for for Friday night. The fly in the ointment are the sustained upper end of moderate northerly winds that persist both after Wednesday's front and through the weekend.
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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To those skinning uphill at resorts: it is critical to know the resort policy on uphill travel. You can see the uphill travel policy for each resort here.

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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.