Our Week in Review highlights significant snowfall, weather, and avalanche events of the previous week. (Click here to review the archived forecasts for the Salt Lake mountains.) The danger roses for the Salt Lake mountains from Friday, November 29 through Thursday, December 5, 2019: Summary: A storm system moved into the state over the Thanksgiving holiday period, bringing several rounds of heavy snow through Saturday, with an avalanche warning through Sunday. By Sunday morning, storm totals include: Cottonwood Canyons 50-70" snow (3.5-4.3" …

Not long ago, I found that I was running late to a talk I was to give at Black Diamond in Salt Lake City. I stepped on the gas, running through traffic, stop-signs and lights to get there on time and soon saw the unmistakable red, white, and blue lights in the rear view mirror. "What's the hurry," asked the cop after he had pulled me over, "where you headed?" My response, dripping with irony, was that I was headed across town to give a talk on risk management and decision making. I was spared the ticket. For the rest of the drive, and for that matter, the following weeks, I …

Using Caltopo, aerial photos, and other mapping apps with up-to-date satellite imagery In the Wasatch Mountains and many other mountain ranges in Utah, mapping early season snow cover can help us predict where some of the most deadly avalanches can occur. Often the early season snow becomes weak, sugary, and faceted. This early season snow becomes a major avalanche problem as it forms a persistent weak layer on which both soft slab and hard slab avalanches can fail. Early season satellite and aerial imagery is a great way to find out where the early season snow existed prior …

Our Week in Review highlights significant snowfall, weather, and avalanche events of the previous week. (Click here to review the archived forecasts for the Salt Lake mountains.) The danger roses for the Salt Lake mountains from Monday, November 25 through Thursday, November 28: Early Season Summary (Nikki Champion): The season was off to a slow start, in mid-September we got our first dusting of snow in the Central Wasatch. On Sept 20th, we got about 3 inches of snow with .4 inches of water, followed by another 3 inches of snow and .85 inches of water. Following …

Last winter, the Utah Legislature passed H.B. 380 designating the first week of December each year as Avalanche Awareness Week. Join the Utah Avalanche Center, Utah Office of Outdoor Recreation, Utah State Parks, Utah Department of Transportation, and Ski Utah to celebrate the First Annual Avalanche Awareness Week December 2-7. The goal of Avalanche Awareness Week is to save lives. During Avalanche Awareness Week, Utah Avalanche Center and its partners will host events, classes, and other activities to promote avalanche awareness, education and safety. See the list of events below and we …

It's key to head into the early avalanche season with the proper mindset. In this podcast, we talk with UAC program director Bo Torrey. Bo talks about particular risks unique to the early season, tips and tricks for knocking the rust off your early season rescue skills, and charts out the path forward with avalanche education. Transceiver First things first, replace your transceiver batteries with new Alkaline Batteries. Firmware updates, range checks, signal checks are all things you can take care of before the snow flies. Get your backcountry partners together …