Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Salt Lake Area Mountains Issued by Brett Kobernik for Saturday - March 7, 2015 - 6:27am
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There is an overall MODERATE avalanche danger today. Human triggered avalanches are possible that may break into faceted snow on the more northerly terrain. The danger of wet avalanche activity will increase as daytime temperatures heat up. You can definitely find trouble today if you're not paying close attention and continue to evaluate snow conditions as you travel through different terrain.
current conditions

We saw a significant warm up on Friday with ridgetop temperatures into the mid 30s. Many slopes became damp but nice powder is still to be had on the higher more northerly terrain. Temperatures overnight were in the mid 20s to around 30. We have a slight bump in east wind speeds but mainly only showing up in the highest terrain with gusts to around 30. Mid elevations are seeing light wind speeds.
recent activity

As far as avalanches, things were much quieter on Friday than the previous few days. One wet avalanche was triggered by a skier on south facing Superior but he was able to quickly get out of it before going for the 500 foot ride. It's going to be warm again today so consider your timing if you're going for south facing slopes.

Here's a few words from retired UAC forecaster Tom Kimbrough. Tom has always had a way of grabbing your attention and getting his point across:

Backcountry Project trailer featuring retired UAC forecaster Tom Kimbrough from Drew Hardesty on Vimeo.
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

Hard to say what your number one concern is between the persistent slab issue or wet activity today but since persistent weak layers are more unpredictable I'd say that's your greatest concern. Things have settled a bunch during the week and chances are becoming less likely to trigger something but we don't call them "persistent slabs" for no reason. Terrain that holds a more shallow snowpack is more likely to still produce these slides. Continue to dig down through the new snow and check for loose sugary faceted snow.
Avalanche Problem 2
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 12 hours
description

With slightly warmer temperatures anticipated today, you will again want to consider wet avalanche activity. It's like clockwork, east facing terrain heats and becomes unstable first then south starts to heat and then west as the sun swings around during the day. Get off of these steep slopes as they start to become damp and consider where you may end up later in the day. You don't want to hang out on north facing terrain all day and then have to exit on a steep south face later.
weather

Today will be just slightly warmer than Friday with ridgetop highs in the mid 30s to near 40. The east winds will shift around to the northwest and slow a bit. We'll see mostly clear skies. Sunday looks similar with temperatures just a little lower. No new storms are in sight. The same ridge of high pressure that has dominated this winter moves back in with only minor disturbances through the foreseen future.
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)

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

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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.