Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Ogden Area Mountains Issued by Drew Hardesty for Sunday - February 21, 2016 - 6:25am
bottom line

Most terrain enjoys a LOW avalanche danger today. It depends on cloud cover, but I expect the danger to rise to MODERATE on all the steep sunlit slopes with daytime warming.

As a general rule, please avoid being in the steep terrain east of North Ogden Divide when it's possible to trigger long running slides.
special announcement

Couple new Blog posts:

With the freedom of the backcountry comes responsibility. This social responsibility in avalanche terrain is paramount as backcountry use explodes. In this video, we'll outline three key factors that are imperative to protect ourselves as well as the access we have to backcountry terrain. Utah Avalanche Center Teton Gravity Research #KnowBeforeYouGo

Posted by Know Before You Go on Tuesday, February 16, 2016
current conditions

Skies are partly cloudy. More important than yesterday's trace to one inch of snow are the drop in temperatures and the relaxation of wind. Mountain temperatures are in the mid-20s. Westerly winds are light (less than 15mph). Riding conditions are fair and travel conditions are good. Get after it.

Snow depths are 55-70" in the Ogden area mountains at the 7500-8000' snowstakes and the SNOTEL sites report us as 90-100% of average for snow water equivalent for the year.

recent activity

Experienced practicitioners intentionally triggered a few 4-8" soft slabs in steep northeast facing terrain at the 9000' level in the Snowbasin backcountry. Cornices were described as touchy.

Avalanche Problem 1
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 12 hours
description

Solar aspects will soften with direct sun and daytime heating. We needed a good refreeze last night and we got it. Still, if you're out and about in the afternoon on the steep sunnies, it's likely you'll find a dissolved crust and punchy conditions. It's a timing thing. By that time, wet loose slides will move with provocation and may pack a punch, gouging into Thursday's graupel and running on the pre-storm crusts from a few days ago. Wet loose sluffs are quite manageable for experienced practitioners, but you don't want to get tangled up in the slow moving cement.

Avalanche Problem 2
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

Remember, risk is always inherent in mountain travel. For more info on some of the problems below, check with the Avalanche Problem Toolbox.

  • Cornices should be avoided. These have a habit of breaking back further than expected. Travel quickly beneath them to minimize exposure.
  • Safe travel habits save lives. Have a plan, maintain good communication, travel through suspect terrain one-at-a-time.
weather

Partly cloudy skies will become more cloudy tonight associated with a quick moving storm system for tomorrow. For today, expect generally light westerly winds, ridgetop temps in the mid to upper 20s; the mid to upper 30s at 8000'. Tomorrow's quick hitter will drop temps to the low teens, bump winds to 20-25mph from the northwest, and provide perhaps 2-4" in favored terrain. Beyond that, we'll have clearing and rapidly warming temps for mid-week. Models differ on a grazing disturbance for late Thursday but both depict perhaps a mirage on the horizon for late next weekend.

general announcements

Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please help us out by submitting snow and avalanche conditions. You can also call us at 801-524-5304, email by clicking HERE, or include #utavy in your tweet or Instagram.

To get help in an emergency (to request a rescue) in the Wasatch, call 911.  Be prepared to give your GPS coordinates or the run name. Dispatchers have a copy of the Wasatch Backcountry Ski map.

Backcountry Emergencies. It outlines your step-by-step method in the event of a winter backcountry incident.

If you trigger an avalanche in the backcountry, but no one is hurt and you do not need assistance, please notify the nearest ski area dispatch to avoid a needless response by rescue teams. Thanks.

EMAIL ADVISORY  If you would like to get the daily advisory by email you will need to subscribe here.​ 

DAWN PATROL Hotline updated daily by 5-530am - 888-999-4019 option 8.

Twitter Updates for your mobile phone - DETAILS

UDOT canyon closures:  LINK TO UDOT, or on Twitter, follow @UDOTavy, @CanyonAlerts or @AltaCentral

Utah Avalanche Center mobile app - Get your advisory on your iPhone along with great navigation and rescue tools.

Powderbird Helicopter Skiing - Blog/itinerary for the day  

Lost or Found something in the backcountry? - http://nolofo.com/

Ski Utah mobile snow updates

To those skinning uphill at resorts:  it is critical to know the resort policy on uphill travel.  You can see the uphill travel policy for each resort here. 

Benefit the Utah Avalanche Center when you shop from Backcountry.com or REI:  Click this link for Backcountry.com or this link to REI, shop, and they will donate a percent of your purchase price to the UAC.  Both offer free shipping (with some conditions) so this costs you nothing!

Benefit the Utah Avalanche Center when you buy or sell on ebay - set the Utah Avalanche Center as a favorite non-profit in your ebay account here and click on ebay gives when you buy or sell.  You can choose to have your seller fees donated to the UAC, which doesn't cost you a penny.

 This information does not apply to developed ski areas or highways where avalanche control is normally done.  This advisory is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always exist.