Avalanche forecast

Uintas

Utah Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

  • Alpine
  • Treeline
  • Below treeline
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Out of date — this forecast expired 8 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

In general the avalanche danger is LOW and there's lots of terrain you can ride safely today and not trigger a slide. However, at and above treeline, in the wind zone, the avalanche danger is MODERATE. Human triggered avalanches are possible on steep, wind drifted slopes.

Here's the outlier- while becoming harder to initiate, human triggered avalanches breaking into deeper, buried weak layers remains a distinct possibility, particularly on steep slopes facing the north half of the compass. Remember- any slide that breaks to old snow will immediately ruin your day.

Lose a little elevation or swing around to slopes with no old snow near the ground and the avalanche danger drops dramatically.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely
    Size
    2

    Winds have been relatively well-behaved recently and I think any fresh deposit of wind drifted snow is gonna be pretty straight-forward and manageable... predictably breaking at or below our skis, board, or sled. Today, I'll be looking for drifts mostly along the leeward side of upper elevation ridges. However, I also remember the Uinta's are a big place and there's plenty of terrain features for wind to channel through and cross-load terrain features like chutes and gullies. As always, be on the lookout for and avoid any fat, rounded piece of snow especially if it sounds hollow like a drum.

    Road cuts and small slopes similar to the kind of terrain you want to ride are great "test slopes".... meaning, if you trigger a small slide the consequences are negligable. While I'm riding, I gather a lot of information by stomping on slopes with these characteristics and see how they react before I decide to get into big, committing terrain.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely
    Size
    3

    The small pocket of snow pulled out near Wolf Creek Pass yesterday indicates that in the right place and in the right terrain, you could still release a piece of snow that breaks to weak layers near the ground. In the big picture, I think this is a fairly isolated event and recent snowpit stability tests combined with the overall lack of avalanche activity suggests the pack feels pretty comfortable in its own skin... and that's good news. However- "persistent weak layers" in the snowpack are a headache because they remain problem children for long periods of time. And all we need to do is find one weakness, maybe around a bush or rock that we can't see buried underneath the snow, collapse the pack, and now we're getting worked by a large piece of moving of snow. The usual suspect terrain comes to mind- steep, rocky slopes with a shallow snowpack or outlying terrain with a thin, weak snowpack. So the way I'm avoiding this scenario is by simply avoiding the terrain where this setup exists.... mid and upper elevation, north facing slopes that harbor weak, early season snow near the ground.

    Tyler found weak snow near Iron Mountain. Not a problem now, but could be an issue if we load this structure with a good shot of snow and water weight.

    Steep, rocky, with a thin snowpack... complex terrain like in the image above is the kind of place where you could trigger a slide that breaks to weak snow near the ground.

Recent Activity

The only activity from the past few days is this small pocket that was triggered yesterday in steep, rocky terrain near Wolf Creek Pass. Thanks to Jacob for the info and for the image.

Snow and Weather

These little storms are the gift that keeps giving. As a matter of fact, a nice shot of snow developed over the region late last night, delivering 3"-5" of ultra-light fluff. Light snow is still falling under mostly cloudy skies and temperatures are in the teens. Winds have been light and variable all night, but just switched to the west and northwest early this morning, bumping into the low 20's along the high peaks. Since last Friday night we've stacked up nearly a foot of new snow. With clearing skies and deep, cold snow on tap, today is sure to go down as a bonus Christmas gift.

Above is recent hourly data from Trial Lake (9,945') along with wind data from Windy Peak (10,662'). To view more regional weather stations click here.

Plowing is done on Mirror Lake Highway, but Wolf Creek Pass is still open. The steep slopes surrounding the pass are getting hammered... ridden hard and without incident. However, just 'cause you can see your rig parked near Wolf Creek, doesn't mean the terrain you're choosing to ride is good to go. Remember- if you are getting out and about, be prepared for your own self rescue. Wear and know how to use an avalanche beacon, shovel, and probe.

Additional Info

Light snow showers begin to taper off this morning with partly cloudy skies developing by about midday. High temperatures rise into the 20's with overnight lows dipping into the single digits. West and northwest winds blow in the 20's along the high peaks. Another weak, yet colder storm slides through the region Thursday.

General Announcements

The information in this advisory expires 24 hours after the date and time posted, but will be updated by 7:00 AM Thursday December 27th, 2018.

If you're getting out and about, please let me know what you're seeing especially if you see or trigger and avalanche. I can be reached at [email protected] or 801-231-2170

It's also a good time to set up one of our very popular avalanche awareness classes. Reach out to me and I'll make it happen.

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.

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