Wasatc h
Cache National Forest
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Good Morning. This is Bruce Tremper with the
Avalanche Conditions:
Yesterday there were two more
unintentional human triggered avalanches in the backcountry and both were very
close calls. First, a lone skier
triggered a hard slab avalanche, 2 feet deep and 150 feet wide, off the steep,
east-facing, upper ridge line between Cardiac Ridge and Cardiac Bowl in Cardiff
Fork of Big Cottonwood Canyon. The
victim rode the slide 800 vertical feet and was buried with their head about
four feet deep for under 10 minutes. Two
other parties luckily happened to be in the area, and three people converged on
the site with their beacons and quickly located the victim using beacons. One was Aaron Hughes, a critical care nurse. The others were Marla Baily
and Mark White, both local hardcore backcountry skiers with medical training. The victim was breathing when they were dug
out and Wasa
The second incident occurred
shortly afterwards in nearby Day’s Fork when a skier triggered
a steep, north facing slope about 8 turns down.
The slide broke well above them, 2 feet deep and 30 feet wide and they
got banged up pretty badly on trees during the 800 foot ride and lost one ski,
but he was able to ski out on his own.
By my reckoning, this is by
far the most active and longest-lasting avalanche cycle in the 22 year history of the Utah
If you listened to the
science fiction by the television meteorologists on the news last night, you
would think these avalanches were caused by warming temperatures, but actually,
temperature probably had little to do with it.
It’s just the same old broken record that has been playing for the past
three weeks. A slab of snow a couple
feet deep sits on top of an astoundingly weak layer of faceted snow that was
formed during the 5-week drought in November and early December. It still collapses everywhere when you travel
across it and it’s taking an incredibly long time to stabilize. People on the east slopes of the Rockies are
used to these conditions, but most people in Utah have never seen it
before. (For a graphic
of the snowpack click HERE.)
Bottom Line (SLC, Park City, Provo and Ogden Area
Mountains):
It’s certainly not dangerous
everywhere, just in some terrain.
Although we’re slouching towards moderate danger, we feel that the
danger remains CONSIDERABLE
on slopes facing northwest, north, northeast and east, above about 8,500’ and
about 35 degrees or steeper, especially on slopes that have not slid yet this
season. This means that human triggered
avalanches are probable and you should probably avoid slopes like this. There is a MODERATE danger of wet point-release avalanches on
steep sun exposed slopes, especially in the heat of the afternoon. If you want LOW avalanche danger, simply stay on slopes less
steep than 30 degrees, which are not connected to steeper slopes above. Remember that 30 degrees is about the
steepness of an intermediate to advanced slope at a ski area and you can have
plenty of fun on a slope like that.
Western Uintas – call 1-800-648-7433
Current Conditions:
It’s getting harder and harder
to find good snow. Most slopes have
either a sun crust or are wind drifted and you can still find some soft, dense
powder on mid elevation, northerly facing, wind sheltered slopes.
Mountain Weather:
Today should be another warm,
sunny day in the mountains. We’re under
a strong temperature inversion and the ridge top temperatures this morning are
around freezing with light and variable winds.
Today ridge top high temperatures should be in the mid 30’s with 8,000’
temperatures into the sweltering range—in the mid to upper 40’s. We will get a few clouds on late Friday and
Saturday and again on about Tuesday. As
far as the long range weather, I think we just have to learn to live with the
fact that this is shaping up to be a dry, warm winter. I don’t see any significant snow in the
forecast for at least the next 10 or 15 days.
General Information:
Wasa
The Friends of the Utah
To report backcountry snow
and avalanche conditions, especially if you observe or trigger an avalanche,
call (801) 524-5304 or 1-800-662-4140, or email to [email protected] or fax to
801-524-6301. The information in this
advisory is from the U.S. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its
content. This advisory describes general
avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.
Evelyn Lees will update this advisory by 7:30 on
Wednesday morning.
Thanks for calling!
________________________________________________________________________
National
Weather Service - Salt Lake City - Snow.
For an explanation of
avalanche danger ratings: