Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Salt Lake Area Mountains Issued by Evelyn Lees for Thursday - January 22, 2015 - 6:21am
bottom line

The avalanche danger is LOW, and there are only isolated places where an avalanche could be triggered. Watch for isolated new wind drifts along the high ridgelines, loose dry sluffs on steep northerly facing slopes and the possibility of a few damp sluffs on steep southerly facing slopes. Even a small slide can have serious consequences in radical terrain, if it takes you for a long ride or through rocks, trees and cliffs.




special announcement

Attending the Outdoor Retailer show? Please join us at the Black Diamond Booth from 4:30 to 6pm today for a happy hour celebration of the release of the latest versions of the Utah Avalanche Center, Northwest Avalanche Center, and Colorado Avalanche Information Center mobile apps.

Tonight, Doug Stoup will be presenting Skiing the Planet at the Wildflower Lounge at Snowbird. Doug recently returned from filming in Greenland, and has traveled the world as a ski mountaineering guide, polar guide, philanthropist, stand up paddler and father. The Free talk is at 6:00pm and a raffle benefits the Utah Avalanche Center. More details on our Events Page.

Our first 3 hour Companion Rescue class is Friday, January 30th at 5:30 pm at Brighton. Hone both your beacon skills and rescue scene management and team work skills. For more info and to sign up, click HERE.

current conditions

It’s another chilly start to the day, with most mountain stations hovering near 10 degrees, and the canyon bottoms near zero. The northerly winds are averaging 20 mph along the high ridge lines, but once you drop into the mid elevation terrain, typical speeds are less than 10 mph. Soft, untracked snow is a rare commodity these days, but search on northerly facing, wind sheltered slopes at the mid and upper elevations. Elsewhere, it’s mostly a mix of supportable to breakable sun and wind crusts. With warmer temperatures today, the steep sunny slopes may soften briefly.

Does the winter seem warmer and drier than usual? Here is a 60 day graph showing departures from normal temperatures on the left, and a 90 day percent of average precipitation on the right.

recent activity

No avalanche activity was reported from the backcountry yesterday.

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

Low danger doesn’t mean no danger - use normal caution if you head into the steeper terrain. Watch for and evaluate -

Wind drifts and cornices: there were reports of a few, shallow hollow feeling wind drifts along the high ridgelines, on easterly aspects. A few new cornices were noted on southeasterly facing slopes. Avoid both, especially on and above steep slopes.

Loose sluffs: the surface snow continues to weaken, and triggering small sluffs is possible in steep shady terrain at the mid and upper elevations.

Wet sluffs: with warmer temperatures today, the snow on steep southerly facing slopes may warm enough to allow for a few wet sluffs, especially with a push.

Slab avalanche: the very isolated chance of triggering a slide failing on surface hoar on sheltered, mid elevation slopes

weather

The great warm up is starting, with 10,000’ temperatures expected to reach the low 40s by Monday. Today, they’ll warm into the mid-20s under clear, sunny skies. The northerly winds will slowly decrease, and shift to a more westerly direction tonight. A few mid and high level clouds will move through tonight, and again on Saturday and Sunday, though high pressure will be the dominate theme into early next 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, 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  If you would like to get the daily advisory by email 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, or on Twitter, follow @UDOTavy, @CanyonAlerts or @AltaCentral

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

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.  You can see the uphill travel policy for each resort here. IMPORTANT: Before skinning or hiking 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.