The Beacon Training Park at Franklin Basin is free and for public use. Please bring your riding partners and practice your companion rescue skills.

Our Week in Review highlights significant snowfall, weather, and avalanche events of the previous week. (Review the archived forecasts for the Salt Lake mountains.) The danger roses for the Salt Lake mountains from Friday, January 8 through Thursday, January 14: Summary: Only one backcountry avalanche is reported over the past week. A few small storms deposit 2-5" throughout the week, with a strong wind event Sunday and Monday. Friday, January 15: No backcountry avalanches are reported, with a weak storm system that deposits 2-4" of dense snow in the upper …

Our Week in Review highlights significant snowfall, weather, and avalanche events of the previous week. (Review the archived forecasts for the Salt Lake mountains.) The danger roses for the Salt Lake mountains from Friday, January 8 through Thursday, January 14: Summary: This past week was marked by the tragic fatality of a snowboarder in an avalanche in Dutch Draw along the Park City Ridgeline. A total of eight avalanches are reported to the UAC over this past week. Friday, January 8: A 31-year old man is killed in an avalanche in Dutch Draw along the Park …

An Open Letter to the Avalanche Community So there's this guy who stumbles out of a bar and wanders over to the streetlight. It's late at night. He bobs and weaves, squinting down at the ground beneath the lamppost. He steps a little to the left, and trips a little to the right, all the while staring at the ground. After awhile, a cop pulls up and asks the man what he's up to. The man says, "I'm looking for my car keys. I dropped them when I got out of my car." The cop replies, "Where'd you park your car?" The man says, "Down the street, but this is the only …

Our Week in Review highlights significant snowfall, weather, and avalanche events of the previous week. (Review the archived forecasts for the Salt Lake mountains.) The danger roses for the Salt Lake mountains from Friday, January 1 through Thursday, January 7: Summary: Two small storms (totaling roughly 12" snow and 1" of water), some wind, and lots of human-triggered avalanches (More than 20 human-triggered avalanches reported to the UAC) including remotely-triggered and avalanches that were sympathetically released (one avalanche causing another.) Almost all …

It has been said that all models are wrong, but some are useful. Back in October, many models predicted that the 2020/2021 winter season would be impacted by a moderate to strong La Niña event. As of early January, these aberrantly cool sea-surface temperatures in the east-central Pacific Ocean are delivering on their premonitions. As early 2021, much of the Four Corners region is experiencing below-average precipitation. Percent of median snow water equivalent for various basins as of January 6, 2021. Low amounts of snowfall and cold temperatures produced myriad …

photo: Mark White of a very close call in the Birthday Chutes in Dec 2016. I thought it would be worthwhile to pull back the curtain again and share some thoughts and struggles of the forecaster in the hot seat. The old learns as much from the new as the other way around. This email thread is between me and a new forecaster at another avalanche center. Limitation of Forecast Guidance New forecaster - I'll start with the obvious caveat that it might be more a limitation in my communication and experience and not that of the forecast guidance …