avalanche

This week we have had bitterly cold temperatures with no snow in the valleys but there have been some storms that have brushed by the high country. Castle Country Radio was able to speak over the telephone with the Utah Avalanche Center’s Brett Kobernik about the latest conditions.

“Overall, the snowpack is quite stable right now deep into the snowpack, so we’re not really concerned about anything breaking, any avalanches breaking deep into the snowpack. We watch the surface conditions and any new storms that come through, that’s kind of our focus,” said Kobernik. That is good news as our area is not anticipating any super-large storms coming through. However, the forecast states that a smaller storm will come through in the next few days which will only refresh the snowpack for folks to get out an recreate.

“So we look for any instability within these new storms that move through. Generally, any avalanche activity is not going to be all that deep and in general, also, these storm snow instabilities, as we call them, they stabilize fairly rapidly,” said Kobernik. This becomes a much more manageable situation so there is a low avalanche danger in most places. However, you can see some dangerous areas if you get into very steep terrain in higher elevations. So to stay safe you want to avoid those areas.

If you plan on recreating it’s a good idea to know about the conditions in the area you plan to visit. “The best thing to do when you’re heading out to the mountains is to check the daily avalanche forecast, which is updated about 7:00 am each morning. You can find that at https://utahavalanchecenter.org/ and search for the Skyline Region once you get to that website. It will give you information about what to expect each day,” explained Kobernik. When visiting avalanche terrain, it’s also important to have the proper avalanche gear, which includes an avalanche beacon, a probe and a shovel

 

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