Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Salt Lake Area Mountains Issued by Drew Hardesty for Saturday - February 8, 2014 - 7:01am
bottom line

A HIGH AVALANCHE DANGER WILL BORDER ON EXTREME THIS WEEKEND, WITH THE DANGER MOST PRONOUNCED ALONG THE OUTLYING AREAS OF THE COTTONWOOD CANYONS. I'M EXPECTING A GOOD NATURAL AND HUMAN TRIGGERED AVALANCHE CYCLE WITH LONGER RUNNING AVALANCHES EXPECTED IN MANY AREAS. AVALANCHE RUNOUT ZONES ARE TO BE AVOIDED. AVALANCHES MAY BE TRIGGERED AT A DISTANCE AND FROM BELOW.

THOSE WITHOUT EXPERT LEVEL AVALANCHE AND ROUTE FINDING SKILLS SHOULD AVOID THE BACKCOUNTRY THIS WEEKEND. SAFE AND EXCELLENT STEEP RIDING CAN BE ENJOYED AT ANY ONE OF OUR WORLD CLASS MOUNTAIN RESORTS.




avalanche warning

AVALANCHE WARNING IN EFFECT 

THIS AVALANCHE WARNING IS FOR ALL THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN AND CENTRAL UTAH...SOUTHEAST IDAHO...THE WESTERN UINTAS...AND SOUTH TO THE MANTI-SKYLINE PLATEAU. HEAVY SNOW AND STRONG WINDS HAS LED TO A HIGH AVALANCHE DANGER, BORDERING ON EXTREME IN LOCALIZED AREAS. VERY DANGEROUS AVALANCHE CONDITIONS EXIST. LONGER RUNNING NATURAL AVALANCHES MAY BE EXPECTED OVER THE WEEKEND. LARGE AVALANCHES MAY BE TRIGGERED ON AND FROM WELL BELOW STEEP TERRAIN...BACKCOUNTRY TRAVEL IS NOT RECOMMENDED. THIS WARNING DOES NOT INCLUDE SKI AREAS OR HIGHWAYS WHERE AVALANCHE CONTROL IS NORMALLY DONE.

current conditions

And the storm rages on - for the last 36 hours we've seen periods of heavy snowfall, fluctuating temperatures and increasing westerly winds. Temps continue their upward march and are in the mid to upper 20s. Winds picked up yesterday out of the west blowing 20-30 with gusts to 50. Wind transport was extensive. Snowfall numbers are below with clear delineation of areas that receive the lion's share of a west to southwest storm track -

Ogden area mountains - 5-9" overnight, storm totals 16" (Precipitation totals of 1.3-estimated 2")

Park City mountains - 4-7" overnight, storm totals 12-14" (Precipitation totals of .8+")

Big Cottonwood Canyon - 6-10" overnight, storm totals 16-18" (Precipitation totals of .7-2")

Little Cottonwood Canyon - 3-4" overnight, storm totals 8-10" (Precipitation totals of .5")

Provo area mountains - 8" overnight, storm totals 16" (Precipitation totals of 2.16")

recent activity

Widespread drifting led to widespread human triggered wind slabs and a few naturals popping out 8-20" deep on many aspects and elevations, though predominantly areas with an easterly component. Cornice development was significant, with natural cornice fall also initiating storm and wind slabs below. The out of the ordinary avalanches tend to catch my eye -

  • Backcountry skiers skinning up the Flagstaff Ridge above Little Cottonwood Canyon remotely triggered an estimated 1-3' deep and 100' wide avalanche that pulled out climber/looker's right of the ridge on a steep southeast facing slope at 9300'. It likely stepped into some facet/crust combination that will likely be a sign of things to come this weekend. (photo Todd Glew, below)

Avalanche Problem 1
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

Both natural and human triggered slides are expected on a number of aspects and elevations today...more pronounced on terrain with an easterly aspect...and may pull out up to 2-3' deep. These may be then stepping down through crusts and other slabs into older weak faceted snow...resulting in a few slides up to 4-5' deep....

Avalanche Problem 2
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

Persistent slabs are may be triggered remotely and from below. These may also be initiated by other avalanches stepping down and triggering deeper more dangerous slides. With additional snow and wind, some of these will start to pull out naturally over the next 48 hours...particularly in areas with a thinner snowpack. Collapsing is a sure give-away. These are likely to be 2-5' deep and a couple hundred feet wide. This is the expectation over the weekend.

Avalanche Problem 3
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

Cornices are growing exponentially larger, calving off naturally and releasing on approach. They're also large enough to potentially trigger deeper avalanches below. Remember they can break back well away from the ridgeline.

weather

The storm will continue with periods of heavy snowfall and moderate to strong westerly winds throughout the day. An additional 4-8" is likely with temps rising to the upper 20s at 10,000', the low 30s at 8000'. Perhaps an additional 4-8" overnight with more snowfall tomorrow. This should be the storm to pull out a few avalanches to the ground.

The longer range models suggest continued storms again by mid-week.

general announcements

Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please participate in the creation of our own community avalanche advisory by submitting snow and avalanche conditions. You can also call us at 801-524-5304 or 800-662-4140, email by clicking HERE, or include #utavy in your tweet or Instagram.

If you trigger an avalanche in the backcountry - especially if you are adjacent to a ski area – please call the following teams to alert them to the slide and whether anyone is missing or not. Rescue teams can be exposed to significant hazard when responding to avalanches, and do not want to do so when unneeded. Thanks.

Salt Lake and Park City – Alta Central (801-742-2033), Canyons Resort Dispatch (435-615-3322)

Snowbasin Resort Dispatch (801-620-1017), Powder Mountain Dispatch (801-745-3772 x 123).

Sundance Dispatch (801-223-4150)

EMAIL ADVISORY We have switched to a new SLC email advisory system. If you would like to get the daily advisory by email, or if you have been getting the advisory by email since the beginning of the season and wish to continue, you will need to subscribe here.​  

DAWN PATROL Hotline updated daily by 5-530am - 888-999-4019 option 8.

Twitter Updates for your mobile phone - DETAILS

UDOT canyon closures:  LINK TO UDOT

Utah Avalanche Center mobile app - Get your advisory on your iPhone along with great navigation and rescue tools.uned.

Wasatch Powderbird Guides Blog/Itinerary for the Day.  

Lost or Found something in the backcountry? - http://nolofo.com/

Ski Utah mobile snow updates

Discount lift tickets are now available at Backcountry.com - Thanks to Ski Utah and the Utah Resorts.  All proceeds go towards paying for Utah Avalanche Center avalanche and mountain weather advisories.

To those skinning uphill at resorts:  it is your responsibility to know the resort policy on uphill travel.  Some allow uphill travel and have guidelines, some don't. Contact the Ski Patrol at each resort for details. IMPORTANT: Before skinning at a resort under new snow conditions, check in with Ski Patrol.  Resorts can restrict or cut off access if incompatible with control and grooming operations.

Benefit the Utah Avalanche Center when you shop from Backcountry.com or REI:  Click this link for Backcountry.com or this link to REI, shop, and they will donate a percent of your purchase price to the UAC.  Both offer free shipping (with some conditions) so this costs you nothing!

Benefit the Utah Avalanche Center when you buy or sell on ebay - set the Utah Avalanche Center as a favorite non-profit in your ebay account here and click on ebay gives when you buy or sell.  You can choose to have your seller fees donated to the UAC, which doesn't cost you a penny.

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 exist.