In
partnership with: The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center, Utah Department of
Public Safety Division of Comprehensive Emergency Management,
For photos of avalanches and avalanche
activity, visit: http://www.avalanche.org/%7Euac/photos_03-04.htm (Updated
3/25)
Photos sent in by observers
throughout the season visit: http://www.avalanche.org/~uac/obphotos/observer.html (Updated
4/2)
For a list of backcountry avalanche
activity, visit: http://www.avalanche.org/%7Euac/Avalanche_List.htm (Updated
3/31)
Avalanche INFORMATION
Sunday, October 24, 2004 9:00 pm
Good evening, this is Drew
Hardesty with the
Current Conditions:
Wow. Those heading up into
the mountains today found another foot of medium density snow, pushing snow
depths at 8500’ to over 2’ and 4-5’ over 10,000’. Winds were generally light with mountain temps
in the mid to upper twenties. By early
afternoon, the sun tried to poke through and temperatures rose a few degrees,
producing a slight “greenhouse effect” which may have slightly damaged the snow
surfaces. Otherwise, in most areas, the
riding and turning conditions are excellent with the new snow sitting on a
‘right-side-up’ base of dense, moist snow.
Saturday’s moderate westerly
and northwesterly winds not only damaged many exposed slopes, but loaded many
lee slopes and cross-loaded others even at the mid-elevations. While many of these wind drifts had settled
out overnight, some
today were still sensitive. The most
significant slide reported today was in upper Little Cottonwood. Details are still sketchy at this point, but
it’s likely that a skier triggered an avalanche in the Baldy chutes at Alta
that possibly triggered another, larger slide, estimated at 2’ deep by 200’
wide. It reportedly ran quite a ways,
entraining a large amount of snow and producing a sizable debris pile. It is unsettling to know that there are some
that, at this time of year, assume that the snowpack within the ski area
boundaries is benign. It is even more
disturbing that the same folks are committing to slopes with complete disregard
of who may be below them. And it’s safe
to say that recreationists are literally swarming around the now-closed ski
areas. So here are a few simple
reminders: commit only one person to the slope at a time. Get out of the way at the bottom. Never ski or ride above your partner or
anyone else. Make a plan.
Another 24 hours of moderate
temperatures should settle out most, but perhaps not all of the wind drifts
from Saturday. These lingering
instabilities will be in very isolated terrain and natural activity is not
expected. As the winds are expected to
pick up out of the southwest by Monday, fresh wind drifts will again be
deposited on the lee of ridgelines and rollovers. Be on the lookout for a rising danger if we
get more snow than expected and the winds start to move the snow around. Slope cuts across a starting zone should give
an extra dose of insurance to those looking for the goods in steeper
terrain.
Mountain Weather:
A series of weak weather
disturbances will cross northern
If you are getting out, drop
us a line or an email with any reports or observations from the
backcountry. You can leave us a message
at 524-5304 or 1 800-662-4140. Email us
at [email protected], or a fax to
524-6301.
The
information in this advisory is from the US Forest Service, which is solely
responsible for its content. This
advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always
occur.
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