Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Friday - January 1, 2016 - 5:16am
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While not widespread, a CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger exists at and above treeline and human triggered avalanches are likely on steep, wind drifted slopes, especially those facing the north half of the compass. Any slide that breaks to old snow near the ground will be deep and dangerous.

Mid elevation terrain offers MODERATE avalanche danger and human triggered avalanches are possible on steep slopes with recent deposits of wind drifted snow.

You'll find a LOW avalanche danger at lower elevations, particularly on slopes facing the south half of the compass.

Looking for a place to ride today and avoid avalanches altogether? Simply stick to low angle terrain with no steep slopes above or adjacent to where you're riding or choose big, wide open meadows where you can practice carving deep trenches.
special announcement

To the family we met at Nobletts Parking Lot earlier this week (James, Jenni, and Josh)... here's the link to register for our January sled specific avy awareness class.
current conditions

Happy New Year! Hope you plugged in the block heater last night, cause temperatures in the lower elevation mountain valleys bottomed out at a diesel gelling -10 to -15 degrees. Gain a little elevation and you'll be greeted with clear skies and temperatures in the mid single digits. Easterly winds bumped up slightly at the turn of the New Year and are currently blowing 15-25 mph along the high peaks. Riding and turning conditions are about the best they've been in years!

Trip reports and observations are found here.

A big shout out and huge thanks to both Tri-City Performance in partnership with Polaris and Weller's Recreation in partnership with BRP Ski-Doo for their generous support, providing loaner sleds to the Avy Center each season. Their partnerships help us see more terrain, issue more accurate advisories, and ultimately save more lives.
recent activity

No new avalanche activity to report.

Recent avalanche observations are found here.

See or trigger an avalanche? Shooting cracks? Hear a collapse? It's simple. Go here to fill out an observation.
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

It's been several days since we've heard of or seen any avalanche activity. As a matter of fact, the last human triggered slide reported to us, and key term here is reported to us, occurred on Monday. Of course the lack of recent avalanche activity is good news and suggests our snowpack is adjusting to the big Solstice storm last week. While I think there is plenty of terrain to ride today and not trigger a slide, I'm still hesitant to jump onto steep, upper elevation slopes, especially if they face the north half of the compass, and particularly if I know they didn't slide during the big storm. The reason is- I'm in this for the long haul and right now the consequences far outweigh the reward. If I trigger a slide on a steep, shady slope, chances are it's gonna break to the ground, resulting in an unmanageable avalanche which could quickly get out of hand. With all the great riding out there it's simply not worth it, because with a little bit of patience, I'll probably be able to nail this same terrain later in the season.

Double Hill sled triggered avalanche Saturday December 26th. (Ted Scroggin photo)

Sled triggered slide Sunday the 27th, between Tower Mountain and Currant Creek Peak. (most_og photo)

Sled triggered Cherry Hill slide initiated low on the slope Monday the 28th. (Dave Kikkert photo)

It's a bit complicated now because you can probably ride plenty of steep slopes and not trigger a slide and think you're good to go. However, the kind of avalanche dragon we're dealing with- DEEP SLABS- often lets you get well out onto the slope before you find a weakness in the pack, collapse the slope, and then BOOM... or in this case WHOOMPH, you're staring down the barrel of a very dangerous slide. Wanna get in on the powder party and not worry about avalanches? It's easy.... tone down your slope angles or simply boondock in the trees and meadows far away from anything steep.
weather

Expect clear skies and cold temperatures today with highs reaching into the low 20's. Overnight lows dip into the single digits. East and southeast winds blow in the 20's and 30's along the high peaks. Clouds increase on Saturday and Sunday with warming temperatures and southerly winds, but the chance of measurable snow seems unlikely. Midweek appears to be our best chance for a few inches of new snow.
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]. To register for the first in our series of on-the-snow sled specific classes you can register here.

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.

The information in this advisory expires 24 hours after the date and time posted, but be will be updated by 7:00 AM on Saturday, January 2nd by Craig Gordon.