The valleys haven’t seen too much snow lately but the mountains have had a few storms come through that have dumped a few inches of snow in those areas. Castle Country Radio was able to speak with the Utah Avalanche Center’s Bret Kobernik about the latest conditions.
“It’s been a busy beginning of the winter season for us, we certainly have been dealing with some avalanche dangers. The bottom line is we are dealing with some pretty unstable conditions out there right now. Certainly, with nice weather this weekend its going to be a lot of folks getting out in the backcountry it’s the type of situation where we are expecting to hear about avalanche accidents,” stated Kobernik. This doesn’t mean that you are not able to go up to the backcountry to enjoy the outdoors, it just means that you need to take some precautions.
“Probably the most important thing is to stick to lower angle slopes. If you experience some of this cracking that can occur in the snowpack, you might see cracks as you’re traveling through it or you might hear a whumphing noise. This is when the snowpack settles very rapidly, and that is the weak snow collapsing underneath you. So those are two big clues that you’re dealing with unstable conditions,” explained Kobernik. Also, if you see an avalanche being released you know that you are in an area that is very unstable.
If you are going out to enjoy activities like snowmobiling, backcountry snowboarding and skiing you should always have the proper gear. “Everybody should have the proper avalanche rescue gear. That includes an electronic beacon, avalanche beacon, and a collapsible shovel and a collapsible avalanche probe. Those are the three things that are necessary for a successful rescue if someone is buried,” said Kobernik. The best thing is to avoid dangerous and unstable areas on the mountain.
Knowing the conditions of the area you plan to visit a head of time is very important. “Now you can also get some information before going out by going to https://utahavalanchecenter.org/ We put a daily avalanche forecast out its update by about 7:00 am each morning and it’ll give you information about the avalanche conditions, mountain weather, and what to expect if you’re going to be heading into the back country,” said Kobernik.