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Out of date — this forecast expired 8 months ago.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

Highlights

At and above treeline, CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger exists. Human triggered avalanches, breaking up to 4 feet deep are LIKELY, especially on steep, rocky, slopes where a hard, dense slab sits above multiple persistent weak layers.

Elsewhere, slopes with enough coverage to ride offer MODERATE avalanche danger and it's POSSIBLE to trigger a stiff wind-drift on the leeward side of ridges, or around terrain features like gully walls, chutes, and cut banks.

Avalanche avoidance is key today as any slide triggered, even a small wind drift, could fail on weak snow near the ground, resulting in a slide that gets out of hand in a hurry.

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    2

    A hepcat with more than nine lives up his sleeve, local snowpro extraordinaire Trevor Katz remotely triggered this hard slab yesterday on a steep, rocky, shady slope in Upper Weber Canyon.

    It is a tricky game right now as rotten November snow turned persistent weak layer sits beneath a strong, dense, cohesive slab that developed from several storms worth of snow, coupled with strong winds. On mid and upper elevation slopes, especially those in the windzone facing the north half of the compass, recently triggered avalanches are breaking 1-3 feet deep, failing on old snow near the ground. Steep, rocky slopes with a thin, shallow snowpack are at the center of the bullseye terrain and need to be avoided.

    Here's the challenge... in wind-sheltered, mid-elevation terrain, the slab is softer, not quite as reactive, and we're seeing fewer red flags. But let's not take our eyes off the prize... it's still a strong snow over weak snow setup and that structure is always a big, red flag.

    Remember, we can trigger persistent slab avalanches remotely or from a distance. Once initiated, today's avalanches may break deeper and wider than we expect, taking us for a body-bruising ride, raking us through rocks, trees, stumps, or deadfall.

    Red flags are keeping us on our toes on the north half of the compass and can't be ignored. All the snowpros I knows are observing no shortage of audible collapses and cracks shooting out hundreds of feet around them.

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1

    A steep, thin, and rocky ridge on a north facing slope around 10,300' that has a dense wind-drift in the starting zone.

    Winds blowing from the west and southwest have been busy at work for the past 72 hours whipping up a fresh round of hard wind drifts. On mid and upper elevation slopes facing northwest through southeast, look for and avoid dense, textured, rounded pillows of snow, especially if they sound hollow like a drum. I'm also steering clear of cross-loaded terrain features like chutes, gully walls, and cut banks.

    Note to self... stiff, hard slabs can feel supportable and solid under our rig, allowing us to get further out onto the slope before we kick the legs out from underneath. Lose the wind and you lose the problem.

Recent Activity

Huge thanks to our main man with the Uinta plan Ted Scroggin, who was out and about Sunday and reports natural avalanche activity on the North Slope as a result of the rapid load from the weekend storm You can check out more on this Gold Hill slide from Ted's awesome write-up, here.

A northeast facing slope at 10,500' in the Gold Hill area, where a persistent slab avalanche failed naturally 1-2' deep, breaking on weak snow near the ground, and wrapping around terrain features a couple of hundred feet wide toward a nearby ridge (via Ted Scroggin).

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Snow and Weather

Nowcast - A thick band of clouds stream into the region, delivering yet another unseasonably warm start to the day. It's the second day of winter, yet current temperatures don't second that emotion with trailheads beginning their day in the mid 30's °F and ridgetops kicking it into gear hovering right around freezing.I heard you want more wind and perhaps a little more cowbell... I'll start off with the first request I know I can deliver as winds blowing 30-50 mph from the southwest have been raking the peaks all night.

Forecast - Look for mostly cloudy skies with high temperatures climbing into the upper 40's °F. Relentlessly blowing from the southwest, wind speeds average in the 30 mph range with gusts in the 50's and 60's near the high peaks.

Futurecast - Continued warm and windy weather is on tap for tomorrow as a moisture laden Atmospheric River begins sliding its way into the region. Slated to arrive late Wednesday, the storm delivers a mixed bag for Christmas Day with a slug of high elevation rain, followed by colder temperatures, and then finally a good shot of snow to round out the workweek. Right now, I'm thinking a foot of snow and an inch of water by Saturday morning, but AR's can over-produce and unexpectedly light up the Uinta range. I'll have a better handle on whether the storm feels my optimism for tomorrows update.

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Travel Conditions - What a difference the weekend storm made across the range! Sure it's dry below about 8,000', but don't let your hearts be troubled. Gain some elevation and it's a different world as overall snow depths range from about 1'-4', with deeper totals the closer you head towards the North Slope. Riding conditions have significantly improved, and although thin, the pack is supportable in many places and travel off-trail is now a thing. In fact, wind sheltered, rock free, grassy meadows deliver delightfully creamy riding and turning conditions. Vehicle access to Mirror Lake Highway (HW150) and the Corridor has been shut down, while SR-35 (Wolf Creek Pass) remains open.

Upper elevation meadows are the ticket right now. Andy stomped around on Sunday, crunching the numbers along the way and his math was simple ... mellow slope angles + grassy terrain underneath = all four A-arms making it back to the rigs in one piece.

In the windzone, the pack remains shallow and weak. Steep, thin, and rocky... three characteristics to steer clear of if your travels take you to terrain above treeline.

Additional Info

This fleet can't be beat! Huge thanks to Ski-Doo in partnership with Karl Malone's Plaza Cycle, for arranging our sled, loaner program. This vital state-wide partnership gets sleds into the hands of UAC forecasters, allowing us to see more terrain, gather more snowpack information, and issue more accurate avalanche forecasts. Ultimately, this program helps us save lives!

General Announcements

We have some upcoming classes and events that we would be stoked to see you at -- Please reach out with any questions and check out below for more details!

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We are always looking for snow and avalanche observations or just general riding conditions. Reach out to us with questions, concerns, or if you see anything in your travels! Contact us directly through the info below:

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. This forecast was issued on Tuesday, December 23rd at 0400 AM and expires 24 hours after it was issued. We'll update this information by 07:00 AM tomorrow.

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