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
Monday,
January 22, 2007 7:30 am
Good morning, this is Drew Hardesty with
the
Our partners, the Friends of the UAC, are hosting numerous events during
the 4th Annual Backcountry Awareness Week, including a photo show by Scott
Markowitz at the Rose Wagner Theater on Jan 24th, a slide show and
book signing by Jill Fredston at REI on Jan 26th, a star studded
snowmobile ride and dinner on Jan. 27th, a dinner February 2 at The
Canyons with Olympic Gold Medal Winner Jim Shea, and avalanche classes at the
Canyons on February 3rd and 4th. Details are below, or click here for more
information.
Current Conditions:
With skies clearing,
the bottom fell out of the temperatures overnight, plummeting to below zero in
the cold sinks and drainages. They’re in
the wee single digits along the ‘thermal belt’ and above. While the new 4-8” helped to freshen things
up, the northeasterly winds played somewhat of a foil, blowing 20-30 mph for a
few hours. You can anticipate some wind
damage above treeline that you can boss around and scoured-to-the-bone starting
zones in many north through east facing slopes.
Snowpack and Avalanche Conditions:
Backcountry observers
reported some minor slab development up high and control teams along the Park
City ridgeline found and triggered a couple soft 12-18” drifts. Sluffing was minimal as was the overall
danger. Continue to watch for some
locally sensitive drifts up to a foot deep in the highest terrain, and in areas
most susceptible to the northeasterly winds, such as the backside of the Wasatch
crest and the
Lastly, with clear
skies and rapidly warming temperatures aloft, watch for some increasing minor
wet activity in the new snow on all the sun-exposed slopes over the next couple
of days.
Bottom Line for the
The danger is
generally LOW
with the exception of some localized new and old wind drifts in the steeper lee
terrain. Sluffing is still possible as
well. Both of these issues will be
accentuated by the terrain below, so consider the consequences of getting
knocked off your ride. The continued
stronger winds aloft will also foster some minor slab development today as
well, but they should be relegated to the most exposed terrain.
Mountain Weather:
Ah yes, the ridge of
high pressure returns. 8000’ and 10,000’
temps will rise to the upper twenties and the upper teens, respectively. The north to northwesterly winds will blow
15-25mph with higher gusts, but will be light off the ridges. A cold front associated with a disorganized
system is slated for Friday into the weekend.
Announcements:
The Wasatch Powderbird Guides didn’t get out yesterday, but will be in the
Cascade Ridgeline area or Bountiful Sessions with anther ship in American
Fork. Their homerun may be out White
Pine. If you have questions regarding
their areas of operation you can contact them at 742-2800.
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
On Saturday Jan. 27th, come join us for a star
studded fundraising ride. Click
here for more details or call 801-963-3819.
Then 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.
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.
Brett Kobernik will update this advisory by 7:30 on Tuesday morning, and
thanks for calling.