Salt Lake Avalanche Advisory

Forecaster: Drew Hardesty

AVALANCHE WARNING »

Dangerous avalanche conditions are occuring or are imminent. Backcountry travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended.
Notice:

THIS SPECIAL AVALANCHE ADVISORY IS FOR THE WASATCH AND BEAR RIVER RANGES NEAR LOGAN UTAH. WHILE DANGEROUS CONDITIONS EXIST THROUGHOUT THE STATE, THE DANGER IS MOST PRONOUNCED NEAR LOGAN WHERE HEAVIER SNOWFALL AND STRONG WINDS HAVE CREATED A HIGH AVALANCHE DANGER. THE DANGER INCLUDES STEEP SLOPES AT THE LOW ELEVATIONS TO INCLUDE THE FOOTHILLS AND NEAR MOUNTAIN RESIDENTIAL AREAS. BACKCOUNTRY TRAVEL IS NOT RECOMMENDED.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

A large avalanche triggered in the backcountry adjacent to the Canyons Ski Area prompted ski area personnel to conduct a full-blown search effort. No one was located. This exposes our rescue teams to a significant hazard when providing rescue services to the public. Please contact Alta Central (801-742-2033) if you trigger a large avalanche adjacent to a ski area to alert them to the slide and whether anyone is missing or not. This may save lives. Thanks.

BOTTOM LINE

Danger by aspect and elevation on slopes approaching 35° or steeper.
(click HERE for tomorrow's danger rating)


Danger Rose Tutorial

We have a dangerous, unmanageable situation in the backcountry. The danger is CONSIDERABLE with deep, unsurvivable avalanches breaking near the ground. These can be triggered on, below or adjacent to these steep slopes. Parents: Do you know if your kids are going out of bounds?


CURRENT CONDITIONS

We’ll have a partly-increasing-to-mostly cloudy day. Temps rose overnight under the southwesterly flow and are in the upper teens to low twenties. Winds are generally light. Riding conditions remain excellent. Evelyn nailed it a few days ago saying that she was enjoying steep powder at the ski area on her day off and safe low angle powder on her days in the backcountry. It remains the same.

RECENT ACTIVITY

Details are filtering in, but it appears a group of 5 snowboarders and skiers unintentionally triggered a large near full depth avalanche in an area called the Python Chutes adjacent to the Canyons ski area. The slide looked to be up to 4’ deep in very steep north facing terrain at 9400’. Debris depths were up to 12’ deep.

Naturals reported with uncertain timing include a north to east facing chute in Wolverine Cirque in upper Big Cottonwood, upper north terrain of Snake Creek, and an outlier in the foothills, a wind-drifted slope at north facing 5600’. This last one was 18” deep and 30’ wide and would’ve been a nasty ride through the scrub maple and oak. Trigger unknown – perhaps some wildlife.

Easy-human triggered shallow soft wind slabs in American Fork and solar-induced shallow sluffs and slabs reported from the Provo mountains rounded out the activity yesterday. Some parties continue to experience collapsing on the southerly aspects…

Keep up on all the reports, photos, and action on our Current Conditions page – found in the upper left hand corner of the page.

THREAT #1
WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

I don’t get it. We have snowmobilers hill climbing right next to the previous day’s full depth climax avalanche. We have slack-country skiers and boarders diving into steep northerly terrain. I fully support the freedom to make decisions on your own in the wilderness – where the outcome is uncertain – but it comes at an extreme cost. Be mindful and deliberate in your decisions. Put only one person on a slope at a time. Have a plan. Get out of the way at the bottom. Have rescue gear. Easy. Avoid the steep powder on the yet-avalanched west to north to east facing slopes. Not so easy.

The primary concern centers on the overall structure of our snowpack. Weaknesses start at the foundation and continue to the floor level. It involves the west through north through southeast aspects, particularly – but not limited to - the mid and upper elevations. It’s like the X factor in the climbing ratings – if you blow it, you’re seriously injured or dead. Most of us have little trust in the slopes that did not natural last weekend or have not yet been triggered. Avoidance is the key. Remember that these hard slabs may pull way back onto the lower angled slopes or back onto ridgelines. Previous tracks offer no assurances.

THREAT #2
WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
No trend identified.

The storm snow may still be sensitive to human weight on a variety of steeper, wind drifted slopes. Patchy old-snow surface weaknesses, primarily across the shady side of the compass, may allow for the continuation of slides to be triggered at a distance – and this may be more prevalent in the Ogden area mountains. Simple snowpit tests will give some localized indication of the remnant weaknesses on the snow surface prior to the Sunday/Monday storm.

MOUNTAIN WEATHER

We’ll have increasing clouds as a splitting storm spills around us over the next couple of days. Temps will be in the mid 20s today with light southwesterly winds. The weather models don’t agree on snow totals with the northern branch of the split for Wednesday night into Thursday, but I’d hedge 2-4” favoring terrain north of I-80. Moisture undercutting the building ridge offers some hope for snow over the weekend.

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

This winter’s Snowbird fundraiser for the Utah Avalanche Center will be a relaxed, après-ski party Saturday, February 6, from 4:30-7. Hours d’oeuvres, beer, wine, music and a silent auction. Golden Cliff, Cliff Lodge, $50. For more info and to purchase tickets, click HERE

Discount Lift tickets: Ski Utah, Backcountry.com, Alta, Deer Valley, Park City, The Canyons, Wolf Mountain, Snowbasin, Beaver Mountain, Brighton, Sundance, and Solitude have donated a limited number of tickets for sale at discounted prices.

Wasatch Powderbird Guides flight plan.

Dawn Patrol Forecast Hotline, updated by 05:30:888-999-4019 option 8.

Daily observations are frequently posted by 10 pm each evening.

Free UAC iPhone app from Canyon Sports.

Subscribe to the daily avalanche advisory e-mail click HERE.

UDOT canyon closures UDOT at (801) 975-4838

We appreciate all your avalanche and snow observations. You can also call us at 801-524-5304 or 800-662-4140, or email to uac@utahavalanchecenter.org

Donate to your favorite non-profit – The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center. The UAC depends on contributions from users like you to support our work.

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 will update this forecast tomorrow morning. Thanks for calling.

This information does not apply to developed ski areas or highways where avalanche control is normally done.  This advisory is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.

This advisory provided by the USDA Forest Service, in partnership with:

The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center, Utah Division of State Parks and Recreation, Utah Division of Emergency Management, Salt Lake County, Salt Lake Unified Fire Authority and the friends of the La Sal Avalanche Center. See our Sponsors Page for a complete list.