Avalanche forecast

Skyline

Issued Dec 18, 2021valid to Dec 19, 2021Utah Avalanche Center

Avalanche danger

Alpine
Treeline
Below treeline

Out of date — this forecast expired 5 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

The majority of the terrain on the Manti Skyline has a LOW avalanche danger. However, the danger is CONSIDERABLE on upper elevation steep northwest, north and northeast facing slopes.

The catch is that this upper elevation northerly facing terrain is exactly where we want to go to recreate since this is where the most snow is. Continue to stay on slopes less steep than 30 degrees if you are traveling in this terrain.

Avalanche problems

Persistent Slabs
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
Alpine
Treeline
Below treeline
Likelihood
Likely
Size
2
Snowfall in October hung around on upper northwest, north and northeast facing slopes through a very dry November. The snow deteriorated during this time and formed a layer of loose sugary "faceted" snow. It is now buried with all the snow from the last few weeks. It is known to have produced at least minor natural slab avalanche activity. There have been many reports of the snowpack collapsing or "whoomping" underneath people as well as shooting cracks around them. All of this info tells us we are dealing with a buried "Persistent Weak Layer". This set up is likely to cause more avalanches over the next few weeks. You're only effective mitigation technique is avoidance. Avoid slopes over 30 degrees in steepness that are above 9000 feet and face northwest, north or northeast and you will stay out of avalanches.

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Recent Activity

No avalanche activity was reported on the Manti Skyline this week but there was plenty of collapsing and cracking. There was a very close call in the Salt Lake area mountains on Friday. Those mountains have a similar buried persistent weak layer like the Skyline does. DETAILS HERE.

Snow and Weather

Current Conditions

Riding conditions are quite good right now although we still have a shallow, early season snowpack. Overnight temperatures were in the single digits to low teens. The wind has really slowed and is almost calm.

Mountain Weather

We have a number of nice days ahead of us with plenty of sun and mild temperatures. The next storms are scheduled to start moving through late Wednesday. As of now, it looks like a progressive weather pattern will bring a pretty good amount of snow through the end of December.