Boletín de aludes

Salt Lake

Publicado el Feb 28, 2021válido hasta el Mar 1, 2021Utah Avalanche Center

Peligro de aludes

Alta montaña
Límite del bosque
Bajo el límite del bosque

Desactualizado: este boletín caducó 5 years ago. Estás viendo condiciones pasadas, no el boletín vigente.

Lo esencial

A MODERATE AVALANCHE DANGER exists on all aspects of the mid and upper elevations for lingering new snow and wind slab avalanches. This danger is most pronounced on steep north to east to south facing slopes. Human triggered avalanches will be possible today. Some avalanches may have the potential to step down into older weaker layers 3-6' deep in localized terrain on west to north to southeast facing slopes.

SAFE TRAVEL HABITS SAVE LIVES

* Make a plan and keep track of each other

* One at a time through steep terrain

* Get out of the way at the bottom

* Carry and know how to use rescue gear

Problemas de aludes

Wind Slabs
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
Alta montaña
Límite del bosque
Bajo el límite del bosque
Probabilidad
Possible
Tamaño
2
Lingering soft wind drifts may still be triggered at the mid and upper elevations today. They won't be a sensitive as yesterday, but don't let the third wind pillow take you by surprise. Remember that the wind drifts may be well off the ridgelines where they might be cross-loaded into gulley features and to the lee of rocky outcroppings. Careful evaluation is key. While drifts will be most pronounced on north to east to south facing aspects, terrain channeling and eddying allows for drifts to be deposited on all aspects, particularly at the mid-elevation.

CORNICES HAVE GROWN SIGNFICANTLY IN THE PAST MONTH AND SHOULD BE TREATED WITH GREAT CAUTION.
Persistent Slabs
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
Alta montaña
Límite del bosque
Bajo el límite del bosque
Probabilidad
Possible
Tamaño
4
Our deep slab avalanches, while becoming increasingly stubborn, can roar back to life with any additional stress, ie: heavy snowfall, strong winds, etc. Cornices may also be a good trigger for these larger avalanches. We haven't heard of any avalanches into this old layering 3-6' deep for a week or so, but they very much remain central to my route selection. These deeper slabs exist on west to north to southeast facing slopes at the mid and upper elevations are you are more likely to trigger these along the periphery of the Cottonwoods or in steep, thin, rocky terrain or areas that may have avalanched during previous cycles. To be clear: areas such as Mill Creek, the PC ridgeline, Snake Creek and parts of upper American Fork are most suspect.

These avalanches are tricky insofar that immediate signs of instability are often not present and it's easy to be lured onto slopes with other tracks, particularly when snow depths and snow tests might point "stable". The problem is the wide spatial variability across many slopes where you might hit the trigger point here (where the slab is thinner) but not there (where the slab is thicker).

My travel advice is to continue to avoid being on or beneath steep terrain where the facets in the basement exist. See Trent holding onto the weak sugary faceted snow he's pulled out of the bottom of the snowpack.
Storm Slabs
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
Alta montaña
Límite del bosque
Bajo el límite del bosque
Probabilidad
Possible
Tamaño
2
Loose snow avalanches (sluffs) may be expected in the new snow on all aspects on slopes approaching 40° in steepness. Loose snow avalanches will start at a point (they're also known as point-releases) and fan out, picking up mass and speed, depending upon the fall line below.

Special Announcement

Monday's Livestream recording of the Wilson Glades avalanche accident debrief and review can be found on our YouTube channel HERE and on the UAC podcast.

Recent Activity

Ski area avalanche teams triggered fresh wind drifts and other new snow soft slab avalanches with ski cuts and explosives. In the backcountry, a skier remotely triggered a cross-loaded wind slab in the more eastern Emmas 12-18" deep that took out most of the gulley. This was at 10,000' on a southeast facing slope. Another observer noted what looked to be a natural wind slab avalanche in northeast facing Cardiff Bowl 12" deep and up to 300' wide (photo below).

Greg Gagne was in Mineral Fork of BCC yesterday and his report is HERE>

You can read all the recent observations HERE.

Snow and Weather

Skies are clearing.... Winds are light from the northwest.

Temperatures are hovering on either side of 0°F.

Another inch of new overnight and we're up to 14-18" for the storm in the upper Cottonwoods and the north end of the PC ridgeline.

For today, we'll have sunny skies, light northwest winds and mountain temps in the low teens up high, the low 20s down low.

The Outlook: A low amplitude ridge builds in for the next several days accompanied by a warming trend. Even by tomorrow, we'll see mountain temperatures up high heading into the upper 20s. We'll have mostly sunny skies, light wind, and warming temps through the week until an abandoned cut-off Low pressure system moves in from the southwest on Thursday.

Greg Gagne's patented Week in Review can be found HERE. It covers Friday Feb 19- Thursday 25th

Additional Info

Forecaster's Corner:

I expect it will be a feeding frenzy of powder skiing and riding today and over the next several days. I know you're hungry. Please pause to thoroughly evaluate your plans and be aware of who or what might be above or below you in the coming days. Moderate is not the new Low; avalanches can still be triggered....and I wouldn't be surprised to see a close call today or in the coming days. Take care of each other out there. -

General Announcements

Please visit this website with information about Responsible Winter Recreation by the Utah Office of Outdoor Recreation.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE GENERAL INFO AND FAQ

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

Observations and Avalanches

Backcountry Emergency Procedures