CONSIDERABLE Hazard of Avalanches in the Mountains of SE Utah. Deep slab instabilities linger throughout the west including the mountains of SE UTAH. Be careful on north facing Alpine slopes that have not slid yet.

Good powder riding and skiing in areas unaffected by the sun before the new snow yesterday. Very light snow and little wind making for limited avalanche danger associated with this last snow. If winds come up this could change. For now excellent conditions and declining avalanche danger can be expected. Early season snow coverge and ground hazards still exist.

There are fantastic skiing and riding conditions in Mountains of SE Utah at the moment if you stay off slopes that were not damaged by the sun before yesterday's snow. The up to 5" of new snow we received yesterday topped off some already good skiing in many areas and kept us at 132% of normal snowpack for the season. Expect very COLD conditions today, it's currently 3 degrees at the GPTH. Check your partners for frostbite!

The Geyser Pass Road didn't see much snowfall so it's in good shape, but a little snowy. 4wd or chains recommended.

Gooming was done yesterday into Gold Basin and on the Lower Nordic Loops. Enjoy.

Several avalanches were observed last week before the last 14 inches of snow. More were observed today on our tour to the Laurel Ridge Weather Station. These include:

Upper Horse Creek - Soft Slab? Natural, 500' wide x 2-3 feet deep x 1000' vertical. Check out this photo sent in Sunday. www.avalanche.org/~lsafc/aviphotos/LaSalPhotos08-09/12-28-08,Upper Horse Creek, Condie.jpg

Dorry Canyon - SS-NN-R2D2, 2' deep x 200' wide

Snaggletooth Face - Several class 2 avi's in a series of 4-500' couloirs.

Tukno NE Face - SS-NN-R3D2.5 - Large avalanche that ran sometime during Thursday's snow. Impressive.

Talking Mountain Cirque (including lower El Pinche Couloir) SS-NN-R4-D2.5. About 1000' feet wide below the cliffs. Very Widespread.

Laurel Cirque - SS-NN-R4D2. Very Wide but not too deep.

Mt Mellenthin - North face - SS-NN-R3D2.5 - Pretty big one. 2' x 500'

Nothing reported over the last few days, but in Telluride the Ski Patrol is still getting large deep slab avalanches to pull out with control work.

La Sal Mountain Weather for 10,000 ft: 

Today: Partly sunny, with a high near 19. Northwest wind between 5 and 10 mph.

Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 2. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming east southeast.

Monday: Partly sunny, with a high near 26. North wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west southwest.

Monday Night: Snow. Low around 15. North northwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming east southeast. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.

Tuesday: A 50 percent chance of snow. Cloudy, with a high near 26. West wind around 10 mph.

Tuesday Night: A 30 percent chance of snow. Cloudy, with a low around 18.

Wednesday: A 20 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 32.

Our yearly AIARE level I avalanche course will be held this year from Friday, January 30th - Sunday February 1st. Proceeds from this class go directly to the Friends of La Sal Avalanche Center and help pay for the forecasting and education services provided by the Center. Please call Dave or Max 435-636-3363 to sign up for the class or get more information.

We will also be teaching some Avalanche Awareness seminars  this winter. The first is scheduled for Monday, January 12th at 6:00 PM at the Grand County Library. These FREE seminars run about 2 hours and cover avalanche phenomena, basic travel techniques and self-rescue equipment overviews. They are a good opportunity to learn about the hazards of backcountry winter travel. Suitable for skiers, hikers, snow machiners, hunters and snowboarders.