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
“keeping
you on top”
AVALANCHE ADVISORY
Tuesday,
October 24, 2006 3:00 pm
This is the
Special
Announcement:
Don’t forget
about the annual backcountry gear swap sponsored by the Friends of the
Avalanche Conditions:
Just because there are
no regular advisories yet doesn’t mean that there are no avalanches. Fall snowstorms often create some of the most
dangerous avalanche conditions of the season.
Here is a little
primer on the avalanche conditions you can expect this fall until we start our
regular forecasts around November 1st.
As you know, we’ve had
several early season snowstorms and even some avalanches already. The sun is strong enough and the temperatures
are still warm enough to melt the snow on most slopes with the important
exception of the upper elevation shady slopes, for instance, northwest, north
and northeast facing slopes above about 9,000’.
This snow usually metamorphoses rapidly into very weak, sugary “faceted”
snow, which is our most common and dangerous weak layer. This year, however, we have been lucky
because the temperatures have remained warm and most of the snow is damp and
has not rotted out very much. Still, on
any slope that has snow, each new snow storm could slide on top of the pre-existing
snow.
The bottom line is
that with each snow or wind storm you need to carefully check how well the new
snow is bonded to the underlying snow.
You can easily do this by using test slopes, which are small, short
slopes where the consequence of an avalanche are low. Just jump on them to see how they respond. You can also quickly dig down with your hand
and isolate a small column of snow and pull on it to see how easily it breaks
away.
Remember the ski
resorts are not yet open, nor are they doing any avalanche control. So you have to treat them like backcountry
terrain. In other words, your favorite
slope that usually has moguls can easily slide and you need to cross them one
at a time and never jump in when another party is below you. Every fall there are several close calls and
occasional fatalities at unopened ski areas.
Finally, be sure to
put fresh batteries in your beacon and do lots of practice scenarios before
heading into dangerous terrain.
To find early season
weather information, be sure to bookmark the National Weather Service page and you
should regularly consult the Snow
Page, (Alta Collins station is operating) the Satellite Imagery page (look
at infrared Western U.S. 2km).
If there is anything
we should know about, continue to let us know by calling (801) 524-5304 or
1-800-662-4140, email [email protected]
or fax 801-524-6301
Well, good luck, stay
on top and we’ll be talking with you on a regular basis soon.