Wasatch Cache and Uinta National Forests

In partnership with: Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center, Utah State Parks, The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center,

Tri-City Performance, Polaris, the Utah Snowmobile Association, the National Weather Service, BRORA, and Backcountry Access.

  

 

 

Avalanche ADVISORY

saturDAY february 17, 2007

The information in this advisory expires 24 hours after the date and time it’s issued, but will be updated on Sunday February 18, 2007.

 

Good Morning! This is Craig Gordon with the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center with your avalanche and mountain weather advisory for the western Uinta Mountains. Today is Saturday, February 17, 2007 and it’s about 7:00 in the morning. Avalanche advisories for the western Uinta’s are available on Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday and all holidays and are brought to you in partnership with Utah State Parks and Recreation.

This advisory covers the terrain from Daniels Summit, to Mirror Lake, to the North Slope of the western Uinta Mountains. That’s a lot of turf and I can’t be in all of these places at once. Your snow and avalanche observations are critical to this program and help to save other riders lives by getting accurate information out to the public. I’m interested in what you’re seeing especially if you see or trigger an avalanche. Please call 801-231-2170, or email at [email protected] and fill me in with all the details. 

 

Current Conditions:

High pressure is moving into the region, giving us mostly clear skies this morning along with diminishing winds. Temperatures are in the mid teens and winds are generally out of the north, blowing 15-25 mph with higher wind speeds along the peaks. The Windy Peak site is averaging 20 mph with gusts in the mid 30’s. 2”-4” of creamy, dense new snow fell in the past 24 hours, vastly improving the riding and turning conditions.  

 

Avalanche Conditions:

Yesterday, Ted, Dave and I rode up along the Mirror Lake Highway and every upper elevation slope we stepped on collapsed, bellowing out loud whoomphing noises and shooting cracks… big indicators to unstable snow. While the visibility was limited we saw the strong northwesterly winds and heavy new snow produced several natural avalanches, mostly on slopes with an easterly component. The culprit behind all the instability is our persistent problem child, the weak sugary facets formed during the January dry spell. This persistent weak layer is notoriously tricky and much of the steep terrain that didn’t avalanche during the past two storm cycles now rests in a fragile balance, waiting for a rider to come along and give it an extra thump. Our complex snowpack is problematic and it may allow you to ride some steep slopes throughout the range without incident, giving you a false sense of snow stability, luring you deeper into the avalanche dragon’s den. Yesterday’s strong winds deposited snow in unusual locations and further down slope than you might expect. Today you’ll need to carefully assess slopes on an individual basis and be diligent with safe travel techniques by only putting one person on the slope at a time. In addition, think about the consequences of triggering a slide.  Avalanches triggered today have the possibility of breaking into deeper buried weak layers, creating a large, dangerous and possibly unsurvivable avalanche. Also, you may be able to trigger avalanches from a distance, so even if you’re playing on low angle terrain, be aware of steep slopes above and adjacent to where you’re riding.

 

Bottom Line:

At and above tree line the avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE today on all slopes steeper than about 35 degrees with recent deposits of wind drifted snow, especially those facing east, northeast and southeast. A CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger means human triggered avalanches are probable and natural avalanches are possible.

At mid and lower elevations the avalanche danger is MODERATE on recently wind loaded slopes and human triggered avalanches are possible.

 

Mountain Weather:

Mostly sunny skies and warming temperatures are on tap today as high pressure moves over the area. Highs today at 10,000’ will be near freezing and at 8,000’ in the low 40’s. Overnight lows will be in the mid teens. Winds will become more northerly and quiet down into the 10-20 mph range as the day wares on. Partly cloudy skies and slightly warmer temperatures are expected on Sunday and southwesterly winds begin to increase late in the day as the next Pacific system approaches the area. This looks like a good shot of moisture for us with another 8”-10” of snow expected by late Monday along with much colder temperatures. Looking into the future… we should see clearing midweek, with another storm expected to impact the area around Thursday.

 

Announcements:

We finally got the Windy Peak weather station up and running. Click here for current conditions.

 

I’d like to thank Jim Shea, The Canyons and Colleen Graham from the Friends of the UAC for all their hard work in making last Friday night’s Know Before You Go fundraiser such a success!

 

The first annual western Uinta fundraising ride was an amazing success with nearly 150 people showing up for the ride alone!

I want to thank the Jim Shea Family Foundation, Rocky Mountain Sledders, the Wasatch Snowmobile Association and the Utah Snowmobile Association for all their tireless work in putting the event together. Thanks again to Team Thunderstruck and the Boondockers crew for helping out and schooling even the most experienced riders. Also, we couldn’t have pulled it off if it weren’t for Chad Booth who did an incredible job as both master of ceremonies and auctioneer. Finally, it wouldn’t have been possible without the support of everyone who attended… you folks are awesome!  

 

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!

 

We installed Beacon Basin at the Noblett’s Trailhead and it’s good to go. I want to thank Doug, Bill, Jared, Brad and Wally who

unselfishly took time out of their powder day to help out the riding community… you guys rock!

 

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 7:00 am on Sunday February 18,2007.

This advisory is also available by calling 1-800-648-7433 or

1-888-999-4019.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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