In partnership with:
Tri-City
Performance, Polaris, the
The information in this advisory expires 24 hours after
the date and time it’s issued, but will be updated Sunday March 4, 2007.
Good Morning! This is Craig
Gordon with the
This
advisory covers the terrain from Daniels Summit, to
A SPECIAL AVALANCHE ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE
WESTERN UINTA AND
Current Conditions:
Although a day late, March roared into town and Thursday
night’s storm dumped a huge amount of light density snow in a short period of
time with new snow totals in the 12”-18” range. Skies cleared overnight and
temperatures crashed into negative territory. Currently at the trailheads it’s
-10 degrees and at the high mountain top locations, a little easier to take at
-4 degrees. With winds out of the east and northeast blowing 15-25 mph, it’ll
feel like -26 degrees along the high ridges. After a meager start to the winter
season we’ve received nearly 6’ of snow since February 10th and the
riding and turning conditions are boarding on epic right now.
Avalanche Conditions:
Clearing skies yesterday
afternoon allowed us to look around and it was easy to see many slopes throughout
the range avalanched naturally and some were quite large, taking out several
storms worth of snow. (Click
here for some awesome avalanche pictures and a short video). Today we have
two avalanche problems to contend with and they’ll have to be approached with
two different mindsets. The first and most obvious avalanche problem will be
the recent snow from Thursday’s storm. In addition to all the new snow, strong
west and northwesterly winds blew along the ridges forming widespread, deep and
sensitive wind drifts. Because the winds were so strong, drifting occurred not
only near the ridges, but also lower down on the slope than you might expect. These
drifts are easily identified by their round pillow-like appearance and are
fairly predictable, breaking at your feet or around your machine. While mostly
manageable, avalanches triggered in the new snow could break into deeper buried
weak layers in the snowpack as they come crashing down the slope, creating an unmanageable
slide which leads me to our next avalanche dragon- the deeper instabilities in
the snowpack. The mid portion of our snowpack has persistent buried weaknesses
that formed during the January dry spell and the next couple of days will be
tricky as the snowpack begins to adjust to all the added weight from the recent
storms and starts to strengthen. The stronger snow will feel solid under your
machine, skis or board giving you a false sense of security, allowing you to
ride steeper slopes without incident. If you’re unlucky enough to trigger an
avalanche that breaks into deeper buried weak layers of the snowpack, the
consequences will be devastating and unsurvivable. Today you’ll need to
practice restraint in your terrain choices and stay off of and out from under
steep slopes. Remember- you can tone your slope angles down and still have a
great day.
Bottom Line:
The
avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE today
on all slopes approaching 35 degrees and steeper with recent deposits of wind
drifted snow, especially those facing northwest, north, northeast, east and
southeast above about 8,000’. A CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger means human triggered avalanches are
probable, natural avalanches possible.
Mountain Weather:
High pressure will begin to build over the area
today and Sunday, resulting in mostly sunny skies and warming temperatures. Highs
today at 8,000’ will be in the low to mid 20’s, at 10,000’ in the mid teens. Overnight
lows will be near 10 degrees. Winds will become northerly, blowing 10-20 mph at
most locations, gusting to 30 mph along the highest ridges, dying down late
this afternoon. Sunday should be mostly sunny and much warmer with highs
reaching into the low 40’s at 8,000’. Partly cloudy skies are expected Monday
and a little storm system will bring some cloudiness to the region for Tuesday,
but not much more than a flurry or two. High pressure returns for mid week.
Announcements:
I completed a
preliminary investigation on the avalanche accident that occurred on Saturday
Feb.17th in
We finally got the
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 the 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
March 4, 2007.
This advisory is also available by calling 1-800-648-7433
or
1-888-999-4019.
.