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Looking for a great stocking stuffer for Christmas? Discount lift tickets for Alta, Snowbird, Brighton, Solitude, Deer Valley, Snowbasin,and Beaver Mountain are now available, donated by the resorts to benefit the Utah Avalanche Center. Details and order information here. These make a great holiday gift and all proceeds go towards paying for avalanche forecasting and education!

Support the UAC when you shop Whole Foods Market at Trolley Square, Sugarhouse, and Cottonwood Heights. Between now and Jan 11th, Whole Foods will donate a dime per bag to Utah Avalanche Center when you shop there and donate your bag credit during check out.

Please abide by the uphill travel policies of the ski resorts. Info here.

It's a beautiful day to head to the mountains, with clear skies, warming tempearatures and light northwesterly winds, in the 5 to 10 mph range. Even across the highest peaks, wind speeds are only averaging 15 to 20 mph. Temperatures are marching upward, already in the mid to low 30s as of 6 am. Cold air is still pooled in the canyon bottoms, where temperatures are still clinging to teens.

Total snow on the ground at the upper elevations is around 2 feet. And with that the only game in town, people are finding it’s enough to get out and carefully recreate, though hitting rocks and stumps is almost a given. Soft snow is getting harder to find – now mixed in with sun crusts and wind crusts. By choosing low angle, grassy slopes and traveling on snow packed roads and trails, you can reduce the number of rocks you will hit. If you’re on a sled, it'd be wise to stick to the roads and not chance banging up your machine. Snowshoeing is a great option for the shallow snow conditions.

But shallow is shallow. J Rowell photo. Full observations HERE.

With limited terrain available for riding (low tide as some call it), take the time to practice with your rescue gear if you get out. Watch this video. Matt and Tom were glad they had practiced and luckily had a happy ending.

The last avalanche reported was Thursday, when Gazex testing released a small slide on an upper elevation, northwesterly facing slope, which gouged into the weak snow as it ran downhill.

The high pressure over Utah isn’t budging, so a series of copycat days is on the way, with sunny skies and warm temperatures in the mountains through midweek and beyond. Temperatures each day will warm into the upper 30s to mid 40s, with the overnight low dipping into 20s. The northerly winds will average 5 to 15 mph, with the highest peaks averaging 20 to 25 mph.