Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Salt Lake Area Mountains Issued by Drew Hardesty for Monday - March 23, 2015 - 2:10pm
bottom line

The avalanche danger is rising to MODERATE for fresh wind drifts up to 8-12" deep and more pronounced in the upper elevation exposed terrain. Human triggered avalanches are now a concern with the new snow and wind. Any sustained heating/sun will make the new snow unstable and prone to wet sluffing in the steep sun exposed terrrain.




special announcement

On Thursday, March 26, Annelise Loevlie will be the final speaker in the Snowbird Speaker Series, sharing tales of adventures in far away lands balanced with the pressures of running a company and building a brand with meaning, all held together with a bilingual thread of passion - skiing. 6pm in the Wildflower Lounge, raffle to benefit the Utah Avalanche Center, 21+

current conditions

We're up to 4" of new snow; westerly winds accompanying the new have continued to increase across the high ridgelines and are currently blowing 30-35mph with gusts approaching 50mph. Temps are in the mid to upper 20s.

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

The stronger winds are whipping the new snow into drifts sensitive to human weight in the upper elevations. These drifts are already 8-12" deep and could easily be enough to trip up the an unwary backcountry traveler. They should respond quite well to slope cuts and settle out once the snowfall and winds diminish; still they should be on your radar if looking to get some turns in the new snow.

weather

We'll have some instability showers for the afternoon and perhaps some lightning and thunder. A warm front is on tap later that should bring some more precipitation in areas north of I-80. Another colder wave follows for tomorrow night. We can expect a few more inches out of both systems. It should remain quite breezy along the ridges with speeds of 25-35mph plus through early Wed. Temps to fluctuate a touch with the fronts but generally remain in the low 20s along the ridgelines. High pressure builds in Wed night.

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.