Moab

Most terrain has generally LOW danger. Small avalanches on isolated terrain features are possible. Even a small avalanche can have serious consequences in extreme terrain.

As the day heats up we may see some small, loose wet avalanches on sun exposed slopes. Signs of instability include rollerballs, pinwheels, and sloppy wet snow. Stay off of and out from under steep slopes when these signs are present. Our long standing persistent weak layer problem appears to no longer be reactive and people are skiing all kinds of terrain without incident. Cautious mountain travelers will nevertheless continue to avoid likely trigger points such as shallow rocky starting zones, thin steep convexities, and areas of very radical, extreme terrain.

Construction is back on today and the Loop Road will be closed from Pack Creek between 8:30-5:30.

Geyser Pass Road: The road has not been plowed and it's a bit sporty, especially on the upper half with ruts up to a foot deep. 4x4 required.

Grooming Conditions: Trails are packed into Gold Basin.

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No new avalanches have been reported since last Thursday night's round of natural wind slab activity.

See the complete avalanche database here.

6 A.M. Snow and Weather Data

24 Hour Snow: 0" 72 Hour Snow: 0" Season Total Snow: 138" Depth at Gold Basin: 51"

Winds on Pre-Laurel Peak: NE 10-15 Temp: 20° F

Weather

High pressure sets in over the region today with a warming trend in store for the upcoming week. Look for sunny skies, light to moderate northeast winds, and high temperatures in the mid 40's. Temperatures tonight drop into the upper 20's. High temperatures tomorrow will be in the upper 40's.

General Conditions

People took full advantage of the glorious conditions over the weekend and aerial observer Chris Benson spied tracks on several big lines during a flyover yesterday. Local skier Mark Sevenoff got up on Mount Tukuhinikivatz and he reported boot top powder conditions on the classic NE face. Some north aspects have mildly wind affected surfaces while sunshine and warm temperatures cooked the snow on all sun exposed slopes. These will be thoroughly crusted over this morning. It does look like we have a good melt/freeze cycle ahead and we should get some corn-like conditions in a few days. The only problem there is that south aspects are quite thin and some were bare before last week's storm cycle so you'll have to be creative to find a good line.

Check out this awesome video from Chris Benson for an aerial view of conditions.

Snowpack and Weather Data

Snowpack Observations

Gold Basin Storm Stake (10,000')

Gold Basin SNOTEL site (10,000')

SNOTEL site near Geyser Pass Winter Trailhead (9600')

Wind Station on Pre-Laurel Peak (11,400')

NWS forecast for the La Sal Mountains.

Check out the latest UAC podcast with forecaster Brett "Kowboy" Kobernick where he discusses faceted persistent weak layers and how "nobody is immune from getting killed in an avalanche."

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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.