Wasatch
Cache and Uinta National
Forests 
In partnership with:
Tri-City Performance, Polaris, the
Avalanche ADVISORY
sunDAY
decemBER 31, 2006
The information in this advisory expires 24 hours after
the date and time it’s issued, but will be updated with a holiday advisory on Monday
January 1, 2007.
Good Morning! This is Craig
Gordon with the
This
advisory covers the terrain from Daniels Summit, to
I’d like to thank
our longtime partner Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort for hosting Friday night’s
amazing fundraising dinner and film producer David Breashears for sharing his spectacular
new Everest Expedition film. A portion of the proceeds will help the avalanche
center. Speaking of fundraisers…come join us for a star studded fundraising
ride on Saturday Jan. 27th. Click here
for more details or call 801-963-3819.
Current Conditions:
It’s another fine day to
get out of the valley fog, smog or whatever choice word you have for it and head
for the mountains. As the ridge hangs out for one more day over the region, clear
skies and warm temperatures up high are on tap again today. Currently
temperatures are near 11 degrees at 8,000’ and in the low 20’s at 10,000’. A
few isolated low elevation mountain valley locations, where cold air tends to
pool, are reporting temperatures in the single digits. Winds are out of the
west-northwest and light at mid elevations, blowing 5-15 mph. Along the highest
ridges hourly averages are in the low 20’s, gusting to 25 mph. Riding and sliding conditions are hit and
miss, though yesterday I found surprisingly soft settled powder on sheltered
mid elevation shady slopes. In this case higher isn’t necessarily better as upper
elevation open bowls are wind hammered and old tracks have the forgiveness and
pliability of curb and gutter.
Avalanche Conditions:
Yesterday myself,
and what seemed to be a cast of thousands, explored some of the turf in the
southern half of the range and I want to thank Tommy George and the good folks
from Tri-City Performance for an awesome ride. People were crawling all over
the place, getting into steep terrain and punching out aggressive lines without
incident. With scores of slope stability testers out in full force, I’m happy
to say I didn’t see or hear of any new avalanche activity. I think the recent
warm temperatures have helped the instabilities settle out a bit, but one variability
within our current snowpack setup still concerns me and I don’t think I’m ready
to blindly center punch my favorite steep chute or wide open bowl just yet… and
here’s why.
The strong east
and northeast wind event late last week moved a lot of snow around, and there
are places up high where you can still trigger an old, rogue wind drift or two.
Hollow sounding hard slabs formed in upper elevation terrain facing the north
half of the compass, especially on west through east facing slopes. Remember- hard
slab avalanches are unpredictable, often breaking above rather than below
you. They’ll lure you out onto the slope giving you a false sense of security
and strength before failing, and that’s what makes them so tricky. In addition,
slabs have formed in unusual locations so be suspicious of wind loading in
chutes, gullies and around terrain features such as rock bands and sub-ridges.
While there are
plenty of places where you won’t trigger a slide today, if you’re travels take
you into increasingly steep, wind loaded upper elevation terrain think about
the consequences. Getting strained through a group of trees and beat up by an
avalanche would be a hateful way to end a good year.
Bottom Line:
In upper elevation terrain at and above tree line
the avalanche danger is MODERATE
today on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees, especially those with
both old and recent deposits of wind drifted snow. A MODERATE avalanche danger means human
triggered avalanches are possible.
In wind sheltered terrain and at lower elevations
the avalanche danger is generally LOW today and human triggered avalanches are unlikely.
Mountain Weather:
Today we can expect increasing high clouds in the
afternoon as the ridge of high pressure begins to slide east. Temperatures will
be balmy with 8,000’ highs near 40 degrees and at 10,000’ near freezing.
Overnight lows under mostly cloudy skies dip into the mid teens. Winds will
remain out of the west and relatively tame, in the 5-15 mph range with
occasional gusts in the 20’s at the most exposed ridge top locations. A weak
brush-by affects the region overnight for a few flurries and then high pressure
quickly returns for the bulk of the upcoming week. There is a glimmer of hope
towards the end of the week for a storm and I’ll have a better feel for the
strength and timing on Wednesday’s midweek update.
Announcements:
Come join us for a star studded fundraising ride on
Saturday Jan. 27th. Click here
for more details.
I want to thank the crew at Tri-City Performance in
Springville along with Polaris and the Utah Snowmobile Association for
partnering with the avalanche center and stepping up to the plate by providing
a new sled for this season! Click
here, to
see the new
ride!
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.
.