Utah Avalanche Center
New member
January 16, 2006 - 7:07 am Today the avalanche danger of loose snow and soft slab avalanches on steep wind drifted slopes is MODERATE. Natural avalanches are not expected, yet localized human triggered avalanches may still be possible. Pay attention when the winds pick up mid-morning and watch for increased loading and sensitivity on steep wind drifted slopes.
Drew Hardesty
Links: Avalanche List Photos Profile List Weather Links Glossary 8 Hrs Backcountry travelers and avalanche workers found plenty of sluffing in the new low density snow along with pockets of shallow soft wind drifts. The foot deep wind drifts were found just off the ridgelines at the mid and upper elevations and were quite manageable. The usual combat techniques of slope cutting and cornice dropping paid out dividends, and Id recommend the same tactics for those sniffing out steep terrain today.
As the winds died down and the snow has had time to settle, much of the instability will have had time to heal. At the same time, the winds are expected to increase out of the north/northwest this morning for a couple hours. Youll need to watch for additional drifting and reloading of steep starting zones on the south through east sides of the compass.
12 Hrs Sluff management techniques include moving laterally out of the fall line and moving from spine to spine while the loose snow barrels through.
Continue to move from safety zone to safety zone, spot one another, and have folks move out of runout zones at the bottom. Carry and know how to use your beacon, shovel, and probe. Nibble around the smaller test slopes before jumping into the more committing lines Remember the old line about most avalanches occurring during the storm, and most accidents occurring on the first bluebird day after the storm?
See above. Good things come to those who wait. By early afternoon, snowfall rates reached, at times, 2-3/hr and up and down tracks disappeared almost instantly. Early Saturdays 3-5 of 10% became a distant memory and the cold smoke really started to pile up. Storm totals across the range are about a foot in the Ogden, Logan, Park City, and Uinta mountains, 12-15 in Big Cottonwood, 18-20 in upper Little Cottonwood, and roughly 6 in Provo. Mid-canyons and lower elevations chimed in with anywhere from 6-10 as well. With the passing of the cold front, temperatures dipped into the single digits and well, snow densities averaged 4-7%, falling right-side-up. The northwest winds picked up yesterday afternoon to blow some of the fluff around, but have generally been on good behavior overnight. Skies are partly cloudy, and conditions in the backcountry today will be epic. We may still see a few instability showers this morning, but well have partly cloudy skies for much of the day. The northerly winds will pick up to 25-30 mph over the high ridges for a few hours this morning before calming to 10-15 by a little this afternoon. 8000 highs will reach the upper teens while 10,000 temperatures remain crisp in the low single digits. A weak system moves through tomorrow with another decent shot of snow by mid-week.
We need to prevent unnecessary call outs of Wasatch Backcountry Rescue to search avalanches that no one was caught in. If you trigger a slide within site of ski areas, the highway, etc, please immediately report it to a local authority by phone or in person. This will prevent unneeded searches and putting rescuers in danger.
3rd Annual Backcountry Awareness Week Monday Jan 30-Sunday February 5Fundraising Dinner February 3rd at 6pm with speakers Conrad Anker and Apa Sherpa. For more info, go to www.backcountryawareness.com or call Snowbird at 933-2147.
Check out our new graphical advisory format. You can update your bookmarks to this link:http://www.avalanche.org/~uac/newadvisory/advisory.php
Click HERE for a text only version of the avalanche advisory.
To have this advisory automatically e-mailed to you each day, click HERE. (You must re-sign up this season even if you were on the list last season.)
UDOT also has a highway avalanche control work hotline for Little Cottonwood road, which is updated as needed. 801-975-4838.
The Wasatch Powderbird Guides were grounded yesterday, but today theyll have one ship in American Fork and White Pine, with another ship in either Cascade or the Sessions. For more info, call 742-2800.
Please report any backcountry snow and avalanche conditions. Call (801) 524-5304 or 1-800-662-4140, email uac@avalanche.org or fax 801-524-6301. 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.
Brett Kobernik will update this advisory by 7:30 Tuesday morning. Thanks for calling.
This advisory provided by the Wasatch Cache National Forest, in partnership with:
Utah Division of State Parks and Recreation, The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center, Utah Department of Emergency Services and Homeland Security and Salt Lake County
DISCLAIMER: Above is information on each factor affecting todays' danger rating. All factors must be considered to develop a backcountry travel plan that will reduce your risk.
The post was created using an automated process maintained by First Tracks! Online.
Drew Hardesty
Links: Avalanche List Photos Profile List Weather Links Glossary 8 Hrs Backcountry travelers and avalanche workers found plenty of sluffing in the new low density snow along with pockets of shallow soft wind drifts. The foot deep wind drifts were found just off the ridgelines at the mid and upper elevations and were quite manageable. The usual combat techniques of slope cutting and cornice dropping paid out dividends, and Id recommend the same tactics for those sniffing out steep terrain today.
As the winds died down and the snow has had time to settle, much of the instability will have had time to heal. At the same time, the winds are expected to increase out of the north/northwest this morning for a couple hours. Youll need to watch for additional drifting and reloading of steep starting zones on the south through east sides of the compass.
12 Hrs Sluff management techniques include moving laterally out of the fall line and moving from spine to spine while the loose snow barrels through.
Continue to move from safety zone to safety zone, spot one another, and have folks move out of runout zones at the bottom. Carry and know how to use your beacon, shovel, and probe. Nibble around the smaller test slopes before jumping into the more committing lines Remember the old line about most avalanches occurring during the storm, and most accidents occurring on the first bluebird day after the storm?
See above. Good things come to those who wait. By early afternoon, snowfall rates reached, at times, 2-3/hr and up and down tracks disappeared almost instantly. Early Saturdays 3-5 of 10% became a distant memory and the cold smoke really started to pile up. Storm totals across the range are about a foot in the Ogden, Logan, Park City, and Uinta mountains, 12-15 in Big Cottonwood, 18-20 in upper Little Cottonwood, and roughly 6 in Provo. Mid-canyons and lower elevations chimed in with anywhere from 6-10 as well. With the passing of the cold front, temperatures dipped into the single digits and well, snow densities averaged 4-7%, falling right-side-up. The northwest winds picked up yesterday afternoon to blow some of the fluff around, but have generally been on good behavior overnight. Skies are partly cloudy, and conditions in the backcountry today will be epic. We may still see a few instability showers this morning, but well have partly cloudy skies for much of the day. The northerly winds will pick up to 25-30 mph over the high ridges for a few hours this morning before calming to 10-15 by a little this afternoon. 8000 highs will reach the upper teens while 10,000 temperatures remain crisp in the low single digits. A weak system moves through tomorrow with another decent shot of snow by mid-week.
We need to prevent unnecessary call outs of Wasatch Backcountry Rescue to search avalanches that no one was caught in. If you trigger a slide within site of ski areas, the highway, etc, please immediately report it to a local authority by phone or in person. This will prevent unneeded searches and putting rescuers in danger.
3rd Annual Backcountry Awareness Week Monday Jan 30-Sunday February 5Fundraising Dinner February 3rd at 6pm with speakers Conrad Anker and Apa Sherpa. For more info, go to www.backcountryawareness.com or call Snowbird at 933-2147.
Check out our new graphical advisory format. You can update your bookmarks to this link:http://www.avalanche.org/~uac/newadvisory/advisory.php
Click HERE for a text only version of the avalanche advisory.
To have this advisory automatically e-mailed to you each day, click HERE. (You must re-sign up this season even if you were on the list last season.)
UDOT also has a highway avalanche control work hotline for Little Cottonwood road, which is updated as needed. 801-975-4838.
The Wasatch Powderbird Guides were grounded yesterday, but today theyll have one ship in American Fork and White Pine, with another ship in either Cascade or the Sessions. For more info, call 742-2800.
Please report any backcountry snow and avalanche conditions. Call (801) 524-5304 or 1-800-662-4140, email uac@avalanche.org or fax 801-524-6301. 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.
Brett Kobernik will update this advisory by 7:30 Tuesday morning. Thanks for calling.
This advisory provided by the Wasatch Cache National Forest, in partnership with:
Utah Division of State Parks and Recreation, The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center, Utah Department of Emergency Services and Homeland Security and Salt Lake County
DISCLAIMER: Above is information on each factor affecting todays' danger rating. All factors must be considered to develop a backcountry travel plan that will reduce your risk.
The post was created using an automated process maintained by First Tracks! Online.