In partnership with: Utah Division of State
Parks and Recreation, The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center, Utah Department
of Emergency Services and Homeland Security and
AVALANCHE ADVISORY
Monday, December 12, 2005 7:30am
Good morning,
this is Drew Hardesty with the
Between
10am-2pm, UDOT will be sighting in their artillery for the Kessler, Argenta,
and Stairs Gulch avalanche paths in
The beacon locator park at Snowbird is now open and
free to the public. It’s sponsored by
Wasatch Backcountry Rescue and Snowbird and located just off the bypass road in
upper Little Cottonwood Canyon.
Upcoming avalanche awareness talks by the UAC staff
include:
Dec 13 7 pm REI, 3285 E, 3300 S, SLC
Dec 14 6:30 pm Mountain
High Motorsports,
Dec 14 7 pm Wasatch Mtn Club: South Valley Unitarian,
Current Conditions:
The inversion has overnight lows along the high ridgelines in the upper
twenties, while lower mountain elevations chill in the low teens. Winds are light and variable. Folks are riding every imaginable line with
impunity and finding good turning conditions in the growing surface
hoar and recrystallized powder on the shady slopes.
Avalanche Conditions:
Ho-hum weather makes for ho-hum avalanche conditions. It’s been four days since backcountry skiers
triggered the last rogue wind drift and nearly a week since the last storm and
accompanying ephemeral instability. The somewhat
unstable structure
remains, but the snowpack has gained strength and lost all its energy. Whoomphing/collapsing is so last-week, and
stability tests show the snowpack has adjusted nicely. Bruce likens it to a sleeping cat, while others
describe it as a limp rubber band. Still,
while you’re out there, avoid steep rocky/thin areas and continue to follow
safe travel protocol.
Today’s recrystallized and loud (see “surface hoar”,
above) powder is tomorrow’s weak layer.
Tomorrow’s storm looks like more of a brush-by at most, but a couple
inches may well bury, preserve, and insulate
(thanks to the Sawtooth NF AC) these weak surface layers for the next big
event.
Bottom Line:
The avalanche
danger is mostly LOW
today. With daytime heating, it may
be possible to trigger a few wet sluffs on the steep sun exposed slopes.
Mountain Weather (updated by noon daily):
We’ll see sunny
skies with daytime highs in the mid to upper 30’s at 8000’ and near freezing at
10,000’. Winds will be light from the south. A quick moving storm will clip northern
Regional
Snow Profile (this profile can also
be found daily off our home page under avalanche products)
Seasonal Weather History Charts.
Please
report any backcountry snow and avalanche conditions you observe. Call (801) 524-5304 or 1-800-662-4140, email [email protected] or fax 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.
To
have this advisory automatically e-mailed to you each day, click HERE. (You must re-sign up this season even if you
were on the list last season.)
UDOT also has a highway avalanche control work
hotline for Little Cottonwood road, which is updated as needed. 801-975-4838.
The annual report for 2004-05 is now on the web.
(Click HERE,
8mb)
Brett Kobernik
will update this advisory by 7:30 Tuesday morning. Thanks for calling.