Luckily we have 2-3 inches of thin lipstick on our pig of a winter. But just beneath the facade of foof, you will find the usual wide variety of faceted snow, various kinds of crusts, and of course, lots of rocks. Snowmobilers are bogging down in the bottomless faceted snow just off the packed trails so you have to pick your play areas carefully. On most northerly-facing slopes, the snow is only 2 feet deep with almost no snow on south facing slopes. Very high elevations might have more snow.
Once again, you will find sunshine and warm up above the thick layer of valley stratus and smog. Daytime highs are around freezing and overnight lows are in the teens. Winds are calm.
Here is my quick tutorial that seems appropriate these days--the Smog Outdoor Exercise Guide:
First and most important, I check the Utah Air Quality Trend Charts each morning and concentrate on the top graph of PM 2.5 (the bad stuff). Those who live near the mountains can sometimes get lucky when the drainage air currents at night can push a pocket of fresh air out into the valleys near the canyon mouths. You can sometimes see that reflected in the trend charts.
Second, check the Meso West surface observations. When you see down canyon breezes in your local canyon. Since I live in Salt Lake, I check Parleys Canyon and the new weather station on the Utah Museum of Natural History, which sits at the bottom of Red Butte.
Third, get your exercise first thing in the morning because you will only have a short window of clean air at the base of the mountains before the daytime heating pushes it back up against the mountains.
Fourth, if you have the luxury of more time you can get up above the smog, but please take the bus or carpool so you don't add to the problem. And remember, Salt Lake has a no-idling rule. |