Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Salt Lake Area Mountains Issued by Evelyn Lees for Tuesday - February 24, 2015 - 6:33am
bottom line

The avalanche danger is mostly LOW today, with two caveats: First, you could trigger one of the scattered small hard wind drifts, just large enough to take a person for a ride – serious in steep, rocky or treed terrain. Secondly, as the day and snow heats up, avoid the steep sunny slopes facing east through south through west, where it will be possible to trigger a wet sluff.




special announcement

The 2015 Wasatch Splitfest kicks off this Thursday night, February 26th at 7 PM, with a Presentation/Raffle night at Brewvies Cinema Pub. Come join us for a social evening of food, drinks, presentations of splitboarding adventures from around the world, and a chance to win gear from Chimera, Voile, Arc'teryx, Patagonia, and many others. All proceeds from the raffle go directly to support the Utah Avalanche Center.

The splitfest will continue through the weekend with tour meetups, clinics, demo gear, and more. This is a grassroots event to gather the backcountry snowboarding tribe, with an emphasis on safety, education, and fun. All are welcome. Check out http://www.facebook.com/WasatchSplitfest for all the details.

current conditions

It’s refreshingly cool this morning, with mountain temperatures in the teens and low 20s. The northeasterly winds have decreased, with most stations averaging in the 5 to 10 mph range. Across the highest terrain, average speeds are 15 to 20 mph.

Wind sheltered, shady slopes have excellent powder, especially in the upper Cottonwoods, which received the most snow from the last storm. Other aspects will be sun crusted this morning, a mix of breakable and hard and icy, though most should soften later today. Small hard wind drifts are scattered about the mid and upper elevations, ready to trip you up.

recent activity

Numerous small harder wind slabs, 2 to 10” deep and up to 30’ wide, were purposely triggered from the Mill Creek ridge line south through Little Cottonwood Canyon, with one remotely triggered. As the day heated, it was possible to push a few wet loose sluffs into motion in the Provo area mountains.

Remotely triggered wind slab, White Pine About 8" deep by 30' wide. (Schmookler photo)

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

There are two avalanches issue today, both of which can be mitigated by sharp observation, terrain choices and timing.

The cracky, hard wind drifts scattered about will still be sensitive today. They are just large enough to grab a person on foot, skies or a board and take them for a ride in steep terrain, while of little consequence to a snowmobiler. They are only an issue if you are caught on a slope with bad consequences where you could go for a long ride, off a cliff or into rocks. Take the time to recognize what these drifts look and feel like. They are most widespread along the ridgelines and on slopes with a westerly aspect, though I was also finding them well down into open bowls and along sub ridges.

With warmer temperatures and less wind today, wet loose sluffs will become active as the snow heats. Most will need a push, but a few naturals are possible in steepest terrain that received the most snow. Avoiding travel on and below steep sunny slopes as the snow heats up (east through south through west).

Example of wind drifted terrain, Mill Creek ridge line (Kikkert photo)

weather

It will be another beautiful day - sunny, with temperatures warming to near 30 at 8,000’ and into the mid 20s at 10,000’. The northeasterly winds will be generally light, with occasional gusts in the 30s across the highest terrain. Slightly cooler with a few scattered clouds on Wednesday and the flow turns to the northwest. The next chance for a little snow will be Thursday afternoon into Friday. The Saturday storm may head south like the last one.

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.