Avalanche forecast

Salt Lake

Issued Dec 31, 2025valid to Jan 1, 2026Utah Avalanche Center

Avalanche danger

Alpine
Treeline
Below treeline

Out of date — this forecast expired 8 months ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Areas of MODERATE avalanche danger seem isolated to steep and rocky, upper elevation west to north to east facing terrain. By definition, large avalanches (1-3' deep) may be triggered in isolated terrain. Otherwise, exercise normal caution with wet loose sluffs on the solar aspects with daytime heating and avoid any recent deposits of wind blown snow high in the alpine.

PRO TIP! - The best and safest skiing and riding is on low angle shady slopes of the mid and upper elevations.

Avalanche problems

Persistent Slabs
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
Alpine
Treeline
Below treeline
Likelihood
Unlikely
Size
2
The snowpack structure is fairly complicated right now. A PWL (persistent weak layer) of faceted snow is buried 1-3' down. Below the post-Christmas storm lies a very slick and - in many areas - very thick (up to four inch thick) Christmas Eve rain crust (CERC) essentially capping the poor structure below. The structure has shown its cards, however, as a skier triggered a 2-3' deep and 70' wide hard slab on Sunset Peak on Sunday and a similar avalanche ran naturally beneath the Twins just down the street that same morning. Explosive control work pried out a couple similar hard slabs in nearby terrain that same day.

We've heard of nothing since.

So what to make of it? I think it would be pretty difficult to find a place to trigger one of these hard slabs, but not impossible. If you were hunting, you might find trouble in upper elevation, thin, rocky terrain where the rain crust is thinner. The rain crust that collapsed on Sunset was only one inch thick (see Dave Kelly's excellent report HERE).

Special Announcement

Yesterday, a backcountry skier slipped while skinning the ridge from Cardiff Pass toward Cardiff Peak. The slip led to an uncontrolled slide-for-life, and he slid to the north over the cliffbands into Cardiff Bowl. With the help of SL County SAR, WBR, DPS, Unified Fire, Life Flight, and Powderbird, the injured man was air-evac'd to the valley. I am unaware of his current status. While this accident was not avalanche related, it is a significant event and telling of the Christmas Eve rain crust's impact on conditions in the backcountry. It's worth repeating that two of the skiers caught and carried in loose snow avalanches on Sunday reported losing their edge on the slick crusts...

Park City Mountain Resort avalanche teams will be conducting avalanche work in the Jupiter area today. Please avoid this area if traveling along the PC ridgeline today.

Recent Activity

This is a photo taken yesterday of the Sunset area. The avalanche was triggered on Sunday....and yet there are now tons of tracks adjacent to the slide. This is not to call out decision making by my fellow backcountry skiers, but rather to point out the mercurial and capricious nature of hard slabs, crusts and weak faceted snow. Feeling lucky?

For yesterday, we only heard of some minor wet loose avalanches noted on steep sunny aspects.

Snow and Weather

Skies are clear. Winds are all but a whisper. Temperatures remain inverted, with temps up high in the low to mid-30s; the temps down low in the low 20s.

Today, we can expect mostly sunny skies giving way to increasing high level clouds by midday. Mountain temps will reach into the mid-40s (!) again. Winds will be light from the southwest. Looking ahead, a storm that's been spinning off the SoCal coast will impact Utah tomorrow through early Friday. This will be another warm system, with a rain-snow line of 8-8500'. Water amounts are a bit of a crapshoot from my vantage, but I'll offer maybe an inch of water and 8-12" of snow. There is some chance that I've wildly undershot the snow and water totals, so keep an eye on how things develop this afternoon.

Skiing and riding conditions are excellent: fast and supportable with the post Christmas storm powder on top of the Christmas Eve rain crust. The best (and safest) turns are found on the low angle mid and upper elevation shady aspects; otherwise you're scraping your tails on the rain crust or just getting sluffed with the loose snow. Solar aspects now host a breakable crust that will soften with sun and warmth.

Snow coverage is 30-40 inches on the polar aspects up high and a measily 0-6" down low.

Forecaster Greg Gagne's tour yesterday took him from Sunset Peak to Grizzly Gulch along the Alta periphery. You'll learn a lot about the current snow and avalanche conditions in his report HERE.

❄️ New essay - Paying Attention

Additional Info

Good supplementary reading by Alaska IFMGA guide and book author Joe Stock - Luck and Avoiding Avalanches

General Announcements

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