The January drought continues, and weather and avalanche activity has been mostly unremarkable. Hopefully a change in the pattern this week will bring much-needed moisture to Southern Utah. South facing slopes near La Sal Pass on Jan. 14th, 2021. Although a weak storm dusted the La Sals on Jan 19th, the last major loading event occurred at the end of December, producing the only observed avalanche cycle so far this season. After this storm, the avalanche danger for the La Sals remained considerable for almost two weeks and dropped to moderate on January 11th. …

The Beacon Training Park at Franklin Basin is free and for public use. Please bring your riding partners and practice your companion rescue skills.

Our Week in Review highlights significant snowfall, weather, and avalanche events of the previous week. (Review the archived forecasts for the Salt Lake mountains.) The danger roses for the Salt Lake mountains from Friday, January 8 through Thursday, January 14: Summary: Only one backcountry avalanche is reported over the past week. A few small storms deposit 2-5" throughout the week, with a strong wind event Sunday and Monday. Friday, January 15: No backcountry avalanches are reported, with a weak storm system that deposits 2-4" of dense snow in the upper …

Our Week in Review highlights significant snowfall, weather, and avalanche events of the previous week. (Review the archived forecasts for the Salt Lake mountains.) The danger roses for the Salt Lake mountains from Friday, January 8 through Thursday, January 14: Summary: This past week was marked by the tragic fatality of a snowboarder in an avalanche in Dutch Draw along the Park City Ridgeline. A total of eight avalanches are reported to the UAC over this past week. Friday, January 8: A 31-year old man is killed in an avalanche in Dutch Draw along the Park …

An Open Letter to the Avalanche Community So there's this guy who stumbles out of a bar and wanders over to the streetlight. It's late at night. He bobs and weaves, squinting down at the ground beneath the lamppost. He steps a little to the left, and trips a little to the right, all the while staring at the ground. After awhile, a cop pulls up and asks the man what he's up to. The man says, "I'm looking for my car keys. I dropped them when I got out of my car." The cop replies, "Where'd you park your car?" The man says, "Down the street, but this is the only …

Our Week in Review highlights significant snowfall, weather, and avalanche events of the previous week. (Review the archived forecasts for the Salt Lake mountains.) The danger roses for the Salt Lake mountains from Friday, January 1 through Thursday, January 7: Summary: Two small storms (totaling roughly 12" snow and 1" of water), some wind, and lots of human-triggered avalanches (More than 20 human-triggered avalanches reported to the UAC) including remotely-triggered and avalanches that were sympathetically released (one avalanche causing another.) Almost all …

It has been said that all models are wrong, but some are useful. Back in October, many models predicted that the 2020/2021 winter season would be impacted by a moderate to strong La Niña event. As of early January, these aberrantly cool sea-surface temperatures in the east-central Pacific Ocean are delivering on their premonitions. As early 2021, much of the Four Corners region is experiencing below-average precipitation. Percent of median snow water equivalent for various basins as of January 6, 2021. Low amounts of snowfall and cold temperatures produced myriad …