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
Friday,
January 19, 2007 7:30 am
Good morning, this is Brett Kobernik with
the
On January 24th at
7:30pm, our partners, the Friends of UAC will be accepting donations at a photo
show by mountain sports photographer Scott Markewitz.
Shot both internationally and in
On Friday, January 26th, the well-known
Our partners, the Friends of the UAC, are hosting the 4th Annual
Backcountry Awareness Week. As part of
this, there will be a Fundraising Dinner on Friday, February 2, 2007. The
dinner will be at The Canyons and Olympic Gold Medal Winner Jim Shea will be
the keynote speaker. For tickets and information visit www.UtahAvalancheCenter.com Also, the Canyons will be
offering avalanche classes on Saturday and Sunday, February 3rd and
4th. For more information and
to register, call 435-615-3325.
Current Conditions:
After coming unglued
about the snow conditions during my shift on Tuesday some people have told me
that I need an attitude adjustment and to take things a bit more seriously and
I agree. You can still find good enough
riding conditions to have a wonderful day full of joy in the mountains. (PHOTO) Temperatures are not as frigid as a few days
ago and are in the mid teens to low 20s at most mountain locations and the
winds have been light from the northwest over the last 24 hours.
Snowpack and Avalanche Conditions:
Weak snow continues to
highlight the snowpack discussion. Many
areas have very weak snow on the surface as well as deeper into the pack and
people are finding more and more spots where they’re punching right through to
the ground. As the surface weakens,
sluffing on steep slopes will continue.
However, you need a big steep and sustained pitch for these to gain enough
mass to even knock a person down. There
are wind slabs around but seem to stay in place for the most part. Folks are still finding a pocket here or
there to come out but they don’t cause much concern. (PHOTOS) One skier did find a pocket up to around 75
feet wide on an east southeast facing steep slope pushing 40 degrees on Thursday. It was a wind slab on top of a thin melt
freeze crust with facets below it. Not
much chance for burial but it could have been a messy ride through some trees
and rocks.
Bottom Line for the
The snowpack is mostly
stable and the avalanche danger generally LOW. Remember, Low
Mountain Weather:
Looks like another
great day to recreate in the mountains.
Skies will be clear with ridgetop temperatures in the low to mid 20s and
light northeast winds. Saturday
afternoon into Sunday brings the next unimpressive system through with our only
chance for snow before a nice ridge of high
pressure sets in for next week.
Announcements:
Yesterday, the Wasatch Powderbird Guides flew in Cascade and American
Fork,
Listen to the
advisory. Try our new streaming audio or
podcasts
UDOT highway avalanche
control work information can be found HERE or by calling (801) 975-4838.
Our new, state wide tollfree hotline is 1-888-999-4019.
(For early morning detailed avalanche activity report hit option 8)
For a list of avalanche
classes, click HERE
For our classic text advisory click HERE.
To sign up for automated e-mails of our graphical advisory click HERE
We appreciate any snowpack and avalanche
observations you have, so please leave us a message at (801) 524-5304 or
1-800-662-4140, or email us at [email protected].
(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.
Evelyn Lees will update this advisory by 7:30 on Saturday morning, and
thanks for calling.