Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Tuesday - January 26, 2016 - 4:16am
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In the wind zone, at and above treeline, a pockety CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger exists. Human triggered avalanches are probable on steep, wind drifted slopes, especially on slopes with an easterly component to their aspect. Any avalanche that breaks to weak, sugary snow near the ground has the potential to be deep and dangerous.

A MODERATE avalanche danger is found at mid elevations and human triggered avalanches are possible on steep slopes with recent deposits of wind drifted snow.

Looking for LOW avalanche danger? Simply avoid being on or under steep wind drifted slopes. You can have a blast carving deep trenches in big, open meadows or seek out turns in wind sheltered terrain.
current conditions

Clear skies allowed temperatures to crash into the low single digits overnight where they sit early this morning. Winds are generally out of the north with mountaintop anemometers bouncing between northwest and northeast at speeds of 15-25 mph along the high peaks. Riding conditions are the best they've been in years. It's cold, it's deep, it's light, it's over-the-head and over-the-hood... it's time to get after it before the sun does.

The Uinta's are white and phat. Thanks to Michael Januliatus for this great pic from Duke Bowl. His trip report is found here.

JG's most excellent snowpit, accurately depicts our current snowpack structure. More on his travels around Hoyt Peak found here.

Additional rip reports and observations are found here.
recent activity

Occurring overnight Sunday on steep, upper elevation, northeast facing slopes, these natural avalanches in Upper Weber Canyon are repeaters (avalanched big during the Solstice avalanche cycle) and again, broke to weak sugary snow near the ground. (Kikkert and Deutschlander photos)

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

Recent wind drifts are going to be today's most obvious avalanche problem. Predictably breaking at or below your skis, board, or sled, fresh drifts are found on the leeward side of upper elevation ridges. While generally manageable in size, a rogue slab on a steep, leeward slope in the wind zone, could take you for a ride and let you know who's boss. Best bet is not to pull on the dogs tail and simply avoid fat, rounded pieces of snow, especially if they sound hollow like a drum.

Pretty straight-forward, but big enough to put the hurt on ya, fresh drifts sensitive to the additional weight of a rider are found along the leeward side of upper elevation ridges. (Deutschlander photo)

Not so manageable, less predictable, and certainly more dangerous is any avalanche that breaks to old snow near the ground. Steep slopes facing the north half of the compass, particularly those that avalanched during the Solstice Storm remain guilty until proven otherwise. Unless you have a solid history of a slope or you're doing your homework and digging down to investigate the layering, you're simply rolling the dice.

Not so manageable, unpredictable, and definately day ruining, is a persistent slab breaking to old snow near the ground like this one on Friday 1-23-16. (Most OG photo)
weather

High pressure builds today giving us clear skies with temperatures warming into the mid 30's. Northwest winds blow into the 20's and 30's along the high, exposed peaks. Not much changes for Wednesday. Looking into the future.... a weekend storm seems more promising. We'll have more details in the next few days.
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 Wednesday, January 27th.