Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Sunday - December 22, 2013 - 6:44am
bottom line

Terrain to avoid- steep, upper elevation slopes in the wind zone, particularly those facing the north half of the compass, where a HIGH avalanche danger exists and human triggered avalanches are very likely. Once initiated, today's avalanches will break deep and wide creating an unmanageable and dangerous slide.

While not as widespread, a CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger is found in mid elevation shady terrain and human triggered avalanches are likely on steep wind drifted slopes.

If you're looking for LOW avalanche danger, head to low elevation terrain or slopes facing the south half of the compass which had very little snow prior to this weeks big storm
special avalanche bulletin

THIS SPECIAL AVALANCHE ADVISORY IS FOR THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN UTAH TO INCLUDE THE WESTERN UINTAS. DANGEROUS HUMAN TRIGGERED AVALANCHES MAY BE TRIGGERED IN STEEP WEST TO NORTH TO EAST FACING TERRAIN ABOVE 8000` IN ELEVATION. EXPERT ROUTE-FINDING IS REQUIRED FOR SAFE TRAVEL IN THE MOUNTAINS. THIS SPECIAL AVALANCHE ADVISORY WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEKEND. THIS ADVISORY DOES NOT INCLUDE SKI AREAS OR HIGHWAYS WHERE AVALANCHE CONTROL IS NORMALLY DONE.
special announcement

The Utah Avalanche Center wishes you a safe and powder-filled holiday season. Please consider the UAC in your holiday giving plans - your donations pay for these advisories and we can't do this without your help. What is it worth to you every day to get an avalanche and mountain weather advisory? The cost of a beverage or the gas it takes to get up the canyon? You can donate here.
current conditions

Snow showers continue throughout the region with an additional 4" of uber light density snow stacking up in the past 24 hours. Northwest winds gusted into the 40's early Saturday morning, but mellowed into the teens and 20's by about lunchtime where they remain this morning. Temperatures are in the low teens at most locations and single digits along the ridges. Riding and turning conditions vastly improved since Thursday's storm delivered over a foot of snow throughout the range. Mid and low elevation wind sheltered terrain is the ticket today.

Click here for current winds, temperatures, and snowfall throughout the range.

Click here for trip reports and avalanche observations.
recent activity

Our main man Ted Scroggin was able to remotely trigger this slab from about 200' away from a low angle portion of the slope. Click here for his expert take on the snowpack.

A sled triggered slide near Lake Creek Friday, broke to old snow near the ground. Fortunately, quick reaction time and a successful airbag deployment lead to a happy outcome with this rider coming out on top of the debris. Here's a first hand account- " I was sidehilling when the avalanche broke above me. It took me off my sled and within two seconds it completely came over my head and I immediately pulled the rip cord and within two seconds my head and shoulders were out of the snow but my waist and legs were trapped."

Tyler, Kirk, and Kam from Wasatch County S&R visiting the site yesterday. Check out their excellent investigation which you can view here. Many thanks guys... you rock!
Avalanche Problem 1
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

Saturday's wind formed shallow slabs along the leeward side of upper elevation ridges yesterday, but those are manageable because they break at or below our skis, board, or sled. But don't get lulled into thinking this is the only avalanche dragon we're dealing with today. Underneath these fresh drifts is a dense cohesive slab, and it's resting on a very weak snowpack, especially on mid and upper elevation slopes facing the north half of the compass. Of course, over time the slab relaxes and avalanches become more difficult to trigger. However, this season is a bit different because the mid portion of our snowpack is so weak and fragile. These are the kind of conditions where most avalanche accidents occur because the snow we're riding on feels strong and solid. It allows us to get well out onto the slope before we collapse the hill (whoomph), trigger the slab (shooting crack), and now we're staring down a dangerous slide that's breaking deeper and wider than we expected, taking out the entire seasons snowpack as the avalanche slams us into rocks and trees (season ending injury or worse).

Making matters more complicated is the fact that many slopes remain in the balance, just waiting for a trigger to come along and knock the legs out from underneath. What's going to make things more tricky today is, you'll be able to trigger avalanches from a distance and on relatively flat terrain, so you need to consider what type of terrain you're connected to. In other words, what steep slopes are above and adjacent to where you're riding.

Today you'll need to tone down your objectives and think about the consequences of triggering a slide. It doesn't mean you can't ride. In fact, you can have a blast on low angle slopes with no steep terrain above or adjacent to where you're riding.

Here, Trent points to the culprit- a layer of midpack facets formed during the very cold spell the first week of December.
weather

Light snow sticks around through Monday morning, but accumulations will be negligible. Westerly winds along the ridges gust into the 40's later today and temperatures climb into the upper teens with overnight lows in the single digits. Warm and dry for mid week with no big storms in sight.
general announcements

Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please participate in the creation of our own community avalanche advisory by submitting snow and avalanche conditions.   You can call me directly at 801-231-2170, email [email protected], or email by clicking HERE

This is a great time of year to schedule a free avalanche awareness presentation for your group or club. You can contact me at 801-231-2170 or email [email protected]

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Utah Avalanche Center mobile app - Get your advisory on your iPhone along with great navigation and rescue tools.

The information in this advisory is from the US Forest Service which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.

I will update this advisory by 7:00 AM on Monday Dec. 23, 2013