With great sadness, the Utah Avalanche Center reports that a 57-year old skier, Kurt Damschroder of Park City, was killed Saturday, January 30 in a backcountry avalanche off of Square Top Peak, located on the Park City Ridgeline. The final accident report can be found
HERE. Our thoughts go out to those affected by this tragic accident, especially the family and friends of Kurt.
Skies are partly cloudy. Mountain temperatures are generally in the 20s.
The wind. 11,000' anemometers suffered a few gusts from the west-northwest over 100mph yesterday afternoon. They remain modeate at the mid-elevations and strong up high.
Storm totals are 3-5" in the Provo mountains and perhaps twice that in upper American Fork.
Skiing and riding conditions are excellent and surfy on higher density graupel snow and wind whales across the landscape.
For today, skies will trend partly cloudy with mountain temperatures rising to the low to mid-20s. Expect no mercy from the northwest winds; they're forecast to increase in speed this afternoon.
The Outlook:
With a high amplitude ridge to the West, we'll remain under a cool, breezy northwest flow through mid-week.
We didn't hear of any avalanches in the Provo mountains yesterday.
It has been a very active week with nearly 40 natural and human-triggered avalanches reported to the UAC from the Salt Lake mountains. The actual number is likely much higher. This included two very-close calls as well as the second avalanche fatality of the season in the state. Get caught up by reading our
Week in Review for this past week where we highlight
significant avalanche, snow, and weather events.