Avalanche danger across the state has plateaued in the moderate range. Still, weather conditions like heavy winds have made it so avalanches remain a persistent threat for outdoorsmen who don’t exercise caution in the high country. Brett Kobernik from the Utah Avalanche Center joined the KOAL newsroom to review this weekend’s avalanche forecast.
“We’ve seen a fair amount of stabilization over the last couple of weeks. We were dealing with some old sugary weak layers at the base of the snowpack, which remains somewhat of a concern, but conditions have stabilized quite a bit,” explained Kobernik,” the thing that we’ve been watching this week has been all the wind that we’ve had. What happens with wind is it takes snow from one location, deposits it in another location, and those locations where the drifts form are where they are often sensitive to people.”
Kobernik then discussed how to identify and avoid these dangerous areas,” It’s fairly easy for folks to avoid these things. Anywhere you see pillowy-looking snow formations or ripples in the snow on steep slopes, avoid those places, and you’ll stay safe out there in the backcountry this weekend.”
The avalanche expert then set his sights on this weekend’s avalanche forecast,” we’re going to be looking at a moderate avalanche danger through the weekend, and that means that human-triggered avalanches are possible. At this point, they’re somewhat unlikely, and a lot of the stuff that folks would trigger up there, again, it’s going to be shallower wind slabs and some of these fresh drifts that have formed. It won’t pose a real great threat, but if you want to 100% stay out of danger, the key is stay off slopes steeper than about 30 degrees and especially on slopes that face west, north, and east.”
Get todays updated avalanche forecast for your region https://t.co/nhr8ERnHyt pic.twitter.com/dhhAhJbfGo
— Utah Avalanche Center (@utavy_) January 20, 2025
One item Kobernik always wants to emphasize is the importance of not only owning avalanche safety equipment like a beacon but also knowing how to use the tool. “Owning avalanche rescue gear is the first step. Avalanche transceiver, an avalanche probe and a shovel. Now, you can practice with those avalanche beacons and transceivers at our beacon training park. And that’s located at the top of Fairview Canyon on State Road 31. It’s basically at the corner of State Road 31 and State Road 264. It’s at the North Skyline Drive parking area. And it’s set up so that folks can go out there and flip a couple of switches on the device. And that will turn on some buried beacons. And then they can use their beacon to go search for those and use a probe to strike the piece of wood that’s covering those beacons. So, it’s an excellent place to get some quick practice.”
In closing, Kobernik shared,” We’re in a moderate avalanche danger. And I wouldn’t be surprised to see that danger drop to low at some point, perhaps next week with quiet weather. But that doesn’t mean it’s going to stick that way all season long, and most likely it won’t. So, stay tuned to the avalanche forecast for the most detailed information.”
To stay up to date with current avalanche conditions in the high country, visit utahavalanchecenter.org.