It’s that time of season to speak with the Utah Avalanche Center to get all of the information about what is taking place out in the backcountry. Castle Country Radio was able to speak over the telephone with the Utah Avalanche Center’s Brett Kobernik about the latest conditions.

“You know so far things started off fairly average up in the high-country but we’ve kind of gone through a bit of a dry spell now. Overall, up there there’s not really a whole lot of snow, not enough to do a whole lot of recreating. You can scoot around on skies and snowshoes a little bit, but you really can’t do any downhill activities in most locations,” stated Kobernik. You are able to travel in some areas as long as you stick to the Forest Service roads.

Right now we are dealing with about 20” to 30” of snow that has been sitting for a quite a while since it fell a few weeks ago. “What happens is when that stuff sits around it changes, it changes grains and the white fluffy powder that packs real nice it becomes this sugary crystal and it’s like loose sugar. This can potentially cause unstable conditions once we start adding more snow on top of that, on top of that sugary layer it won’t hold the new snow very well. So it’s kind of a concern and that’s what’s mainly we’re keeping on eye on up there,” said Kobernik. It doesn’t look like a storm is very promising until closer to the Christmas holiday.

Now is the time to prepare for your outdoor activities to make sure that all you gear is working properly.  “We always recommend at the beginning of the season is pull out the beacons, change the batteries. Do some checks just in your backyard, make sure they are working properly. Then just practice with the shovels and the probs, the probs can get corroded over the summer, so its good to assemble those and take them apart a couple of times. It’s always good for practice, because we don’t use these tools all that often, so a little practice just to make sure they are functioning properly,” said Kobernik. You can learn more about the tools and other tips on the https://utahavalanchecenter.org/

Officials don’t want to discourage folks from recreating on public lands but do want them to be aware of the conditions before they head out. You can keep up to date on the backcountry conditions by visit the Utah Avalanche Center’s website at https://utahavalanchecenter.org/