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
Wednesday,
November 08, 2006 1:00 pm
This is the
Special
Announcement:
Our staff
would like to give a big thanks to Colleen Graham and everyone else that
organized, volunteered for and attended the Friends annual backcountry gear
swap, making it a success. The next FUAC
fundraiser will feature TGR’s latest winter sports film “the Anomaly” aka “Early
Bird gets the Worm”. The fundraiser is
on Dec 7th at Brewvies, with two showing, at 7pm and 9 pm, and advanced
tickets are available.
Current Conditions:
The current heat wave is
just about history. In the mean time, it’s
reduced the ridable snow to a few small areas on upper elevation north and
easterly facing slopes. The best place
to find a few turns without hitting too many rocks is the snowcatted terrain at
the unopened resorts. Turning is dangerous
at the moment, with lots of hidden obstacles, so controlling your speed is
crucial.
Snowpack and Avalanche Conditions:
The good side to the
unusually warm weather is that the heat is strengthening the existing snow. Much of the snowpack is now damp to the
ground, though some weak, sugary snow probably remains on highest elevation, shady
slopes. With a small storm on the
doorstep, it may become possible to trigger shallow new snow sluffs and soft
slabs Thursday, Friday and Saturday, especially in wind affected terrain. Any new
snow wind drifts
will be most sensitive on upper elevation northerly and easterly facing
slopes where there was preexisting snow on the ground. Cracking in the new snow
is a sign that you are in a wind drifted area or where the new snow had bonded
poorly to the old surface crusts.
Mountain Weather:
There is good news
just to the west of us, with three of Pacific weather disturbances lined up to
hit northern
Bottom Line:
Today, the limited
snowpack is mostly stable, but making turns comes with a serious potential of
hitting rocks or logs, which could result in a season ending injury. Tomorrow, as the snow adds up, it may become
possible to trigger a few new snow sluffs or small shallow soft slabs,
especially in wind drifted areas. Remember, the ski resorts are not yet open for
the season and are not doing any avalanche control, so treat them like
backcountry terrain. As they do prepare
to open over the next weeks, please obey any closures. It is a good habit to
put fresh batteries in your beacon each fall, and start practicing a few beacon
searches.
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