Avalanche warning issued in Utah as ‘very dangerous’ conditions emerge from storm

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Avalanche Center officials issued a backcountry avalanche warning on Friday as avalanche potential rose to “high” levels in the mountains from Utah County through southeast Idaho.

While it expires Saturday morning, similar daily warnings are expected over the next few days as heavy snowfall and strong winds remain in the forecast through the weekend, creating “very dangerous” avalanche conditions.

The agency had previously advised skiers, snowboarders, snowmobilers and other outdoor recreators that the danger is expected to jump to “high” across many slopes in northern Utah and southeast Idaho, largely because the heavier new snow will likely “overload” the “weak, pre-existing faceted snow” on the ground.

“This is going to be a great storm cycle for the mountains of northern Utah … but it is also going to give us a setup for very dangerous avalanche conditions,” said Craig Gordon, a forecaster for the Utah Avalanche Center.

The warning comes as many people are expected to travel to the mountains during a traditionally busy holiday season. The week between Christmas and New Year’s often draws crowds with many people enjoying time off work and some testing out new equipment they received for Christmas.

As Davy Ratchford, general manager of Snowbasin Resort, puts it, it’s “a great time in Utah right now.”

However, it also comes just a few days after the first major avalanche incident of the season.

Two brothers were caught up in a 2-foot-deep and 500-foot-wide avalanche while riding snowmobiles in the Franklin Basin area of Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest on Christmas Eve. It carried one of the men about 150 yards and fully buried him. He had a beacon with him and his brother used a transceiver to locate him, digging him out of the snow. The man carried in the avalanche suffered minor injuries, and both men were able to leave the area safely.

The conditions are prime for avalanches, Utah Avalanche Center forecaster Trent Meisenheimer explained in a video the agency posted ahead of the holiday and weekend storm cycle.

That’s because new water-heavy snow — possibly up to multiple feet in some areas — is forecast to fall on snow that has become loose and weak after a long period of warm and dry conditions. National Weather Service meteorologist Michael Wessler adds that the pattern is also forecast to bring wind gusts of up to 50-60 mph or more along many mountain ridgelines.

All the snow up on the mountains before Christmas isn’t expected to hold onto new snow long before it collapses, causing an avalanche.

“It’s no doubt that Utah has hardly had any snow (to this point),” Meisenheimer said. “We have a very dangerous snowpack setup. … Moving forward through the weekend and into New Year’s, if we do start seeing strong winds (and) heavy snowfall, northern Utah is going to become very dangerous.”

The Utah Avalanche Center says anyone planning to head into the mountains over the next few days should try to avoid any backcountry avalanche terrain if possible, but at least avoid areas on, under or near slopes 30 degrees or steeper. It also advises that people:

• Don’t go into the backcountry alone. Bring operational avalanche rescue gear and make sure everyone in your group knows how to use it.
• Stay within boundaries while at resorts, as anywhere outside could be in avalanche-prone terrain.
• If you must go through avalanche terrain, have one person cross steep slopes at a time while everyone else watches from a safe location.

“It doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the greatest snow on earth; (you) just got to practice a little patience,” Gordon said. “If you want to get on steep slopes, enjoy one of our world-class ski resorts where active avalanche mitigation is being performed.”

Contributing: Alex Cabrero