Wasatch
Cache and Uinta National
Forests 
In partnership with:
Tri-City Performance, Polaris, the
Avalanche ADVISORY
saturDAY
decemBER 9, 2006
The information in this advisory expires 24 hours after
the date and time it’s issued, and will be updated
Good Morning! This is Craig
Gordon with the
This
advisory covers the terrain from Daniels Summit, to
Current Conditions:
The ridge of high
pressure that’s been homesteading over the region for the past week or so is
finally breaking down. Southwesterly winds picked up late last night with
hourly averages in the teens and gusts in the upper 30’s along the high
elevation ridges. Temperatures are in the mid 20’s at the trailhead elevations
and in the upper teens at 10,000’. Current surface snow conditions run the gamut
from breakable crust on sunny slopes to wind slab in open exposed bowls and
just plain moonscape at the upper elevations. If you poke around long enough
you will find patches of soft settled powder on protected shady slopes. However,
the most accurate way to describe the riding and turning conditions right now
is- consistently inconsistent.
Avalanche Conditions:
I guess coming off the heels of two back to back “normal” winters has really spoiled me. Usually I’m pretty optimistic about the snow conditions and always game for an adventure, but boy… it’s getting downright grim out there! Our thin snowpack is growing weak and faceted (scroll down and click on “play”) at the surface and rotting near the ground, especially in rocky terrain. When it doesn’t snow you’ll hear avalanche geeks like me talk about the weakening state of the snowpack, because once it does start snowing and blowing again we know they’ll be avalanches. So, while the riding conditions are hit and miss, it’s a good time to snoop around and make some mental notes as to where the weak layers are most prevalent so that when winter does return you’ve got a good handle on where you can ride safely.
Right now the chances of slamming a buried obstacle are probably greater than triggering an avalanche. But be aware of shallow, old wind drifts along the leeward side of upper elevation ridgelines which could crack out around you, grabbing your attention.
Bottom Line:
On most slopes throughout the range the avalanche
danger is generally LOW.
Mountain Weather:
A welcome change in the
weather pattern is finally in sight as a series of strengthening systems move
into the region. The first “storm” will be ushered in with nothing more than a
few scattered snow flurries late this afternoon and cooler temperatures. This
morning we can expect partly cloudy skies with southwest winds increasing
throughout the day. High temperatures at 8,000’ will be in the mid to upper 30’s
and at 10,000’ near 30 degrees. Overnight lows are expected to drop into the
low 20’s. Sunday should be mostly cloudy with a better shot of snow developing
during the day, lingering into Monday. Right now storm totals look pretty slim,
in the 3”-6” range.
Announcements:
The
Free avalanche awareness classes are available. Give
me a call at 801-231-2170 or email [email protected]
and get one scheduled before the season gets too crazy!
If any terms confuse you, take a look at our new avalanche encyclopedia.
For avalanche photos click here.
General
Information:
The information
in this advisory is from the U.S. Forest Service, which is solely responsible
for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local
variations always occur.
I’ll update this
advisory by
This advisory is
also available by calling 1-800-648-7433 or
1-888-999-4019.
.