Salt Lake Avalanche Advisory

Forecaster: Drew Hardesty

BOTTOM LINE

Danger by aspect and elevation on slopes approaching 35° or steeper.
(click HERE for tomorrow's danger rating)


Danger Rose Tutorial

We have a mostly MODERATE danger in the backcountry. Pockets of CONSIDERABLE danger remain for human triggered slides of up to 2’ deep in the sheltered mid-elevation terrain. With daytime warming, natural and human triggered slides in the steep sun-exposed terrain will again be likely. Timing and avoidance are critical.


CURRENT CONDITIONS

High thin clouds hint at larger things to come. The backing winds picked up early this morning and are blowing from the south and southeast at 15mph with gusts to 20. Temps are in the low 20’s this morning and it should be another scorcher, with daytime highs reaching into the 40s at 8000’. Saturday’s southerly winds stiffened some of the upper elevation terrain and clearly the sun has had its way with the southern end of the compass. The best conditions are, of course, in the sheltered mid-elevations – precisely the terrain that holds the most unstable snow. More on this in a minute.

RECENT ACTIVITY

Had one per category yesterday:

· one cornice released wind slab in the upper American Fork drainage on a steep northeast facing slope. It broke out 12-30” deep and propagated 100’ wide, running 500’ down the slope.

· Excellent photos by Mark White of natural wet sluffs along the Park City ridgeline, running an estimated 500’ down the southeast facing slope.

· Two likely skier triggered slides on the now-two to three week old surface hoar and faceted snow – one up near Ben Lomond at roughly 7000’ and another off the Pine Cone ridge near Park City at 8000’. Both on northeast facing slopes about foot to 18” deep.


THREAT #1
WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

“The best conditions are, of course, in the sheltered mid-elevations – precisely the terrain that holds the most unstable snow.” Aspect and elevation here are suspect, particularly along the Park City ridgeline, upper Mill Creek, and terrain north of I-80. Increase your odds by ratcheting down your slope angles. You can still find enjoyable recycled powder on heavily timbered terrain or on slopes less than 30 degrees. Of note – don’t confuse mid-elevation with being mid-slope - nearly all of what we call mid-elevation runs the highest ridgelines in the aforementioned terrain.

I think the Montana writer Norman Mclean knew something about terrain management -he wrote clearly on this in his classic A River Runs Through It.

“One reason Paul caught more fish than anyone else was that he had his flies in the water more than anyone else. ”Brother," he would say, "there are no flying fish in Montana. Out here, you can't catch fish with your flies in the air."

The buried surface hoar and faceted snow is tricky and variable throughout the range, even from slope to slope. There is an art to it – rely less on luck than hard work (make deliberate assessments in your terrain). Continuing with Mclean – “All good things - trout as well as eternal salvation - come by grace and grace comes by art and art does not come easy.” Do the work.

THREAT #2
WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 10 hours.

Wet sluffs gouging down up to 8” deep from the mid-week storm is likely with today’s warming. Avoid the steep sunny aspect once the sun’s been on the slope and conditions become soggy and saturated.

THREAT #3
WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

Most should have settled out by now, though safely dropping a cornice or ski or slope cut across the starting zone would behoove the committed rider.


MOUNTAIN WEATHER

We’ll have slowly increasing clouds today ahead of tonight’s weak weather disturbance. It’s the first hint of moisture ahead of what looks to be a promising shot of snow for Thursday night into Friday. Temps will be in the mid to upper 20s at 10,000’. The south to southwesterly winds will blow 15-20mph with an occasional gust to 30.


GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

SLC: Please contact Alta Central (801-742-2033) if you trigger a large avalanche in the backcountry, especially if you are adjacent to a ski area, to alert them to the slide and whether anyone is missing or not. Rescue teams can be exposed to significant hazard when responding to avalanches, and do not want to do so when unneeded. Thanks.

Ogden: Please contact Snowbasin ski patrol (801620-1000/1017) if you trigger a large avalanche in the backcountry, especially if you are adjacent to a ski area, to alert them to the slide and whether anyone is missing or not. Rescue teams can be exposed to significant hazard when responding to avalanches, and do not want to do so when unneeded. Thanks.

Provo: Please contact Sundance ski patrol (801 -223-4150) if you trigger a large avalanche in the backcountry, especially if you are adjacent to a ski area, to alert them to the slide and whether anyone is missing or not. Rescue teams can be exposed to significant hazard when responding to avalanches, and do not want to do so when unneeded. Thanks.

Discount Lift tickets: Ski Utah, Backcountry.com, Alta, Deer Valley, Park City, The Canyons, Wolf Mountain, Snowbasin, Beaver Mountain, Brighton, Sundance, and Solitude have donated a limited number of tickets for sale at discounted prices.

Wasatch Powderbird Guides flight plan.

Dawn Patrol Forecast Hotline, updated by 05:30:888-999-4019 option 8.

Daily observations are frequently posted by 10 pm each evening.

Free UAC iPhone app from Canyon Sports.

Subscribe to the daily avalanche advisory e-mail click HERE.

UDOT canyon closures UDOT at (801) 975-4838

We appreciate all your avalanche and snow observations. You can also call us at 801-524-5304 or 800-662-4140, or fill out the observation form on our home page.

Donate to your favorite non-profit – The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center. The UAC depends on contributions from users like you to support our work.

The information in this advisory is from the U.S. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.

We will update this forecast tomorrow morning. Thanks for calling.


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 occur.

This advisory provided by the USDA Forest Service, in partnership with:

The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center, Utah Division of State Parks and Recreation, Utah Division of Emergency Management, Salt Lake County, Salt Lake Unified Fire Authority and the friends of the La Sal Avalanche Center. See our Sponsors Page for a complete list.