With the holiday weekend storm cycle rushing people to the backcountry in hopes of floating through long awaited powder turns, the Utah Avalanche Center has raised avalanche danger ratings to high across the entire state.
Forecaster Greg Gagne expects the warning to rise to the highest possible rating of extreme in some areas in the Salt Lake region this weekend. Stay out of the backcountry during this storm cycle, experts urge, and leaders across the community are spreading the message.
The Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association hosted Utah Avalanche Center Forecaster Craig Gordon to explain the state of the snowpack in Park City on Tuesday. He walked the audience through each of this year’s storms and explained how they have contributed to a particularly dangerous snowpack this season.
Quinn Graves, the ski patrol union business manager, emphasized the point.
“I think general avalanche awareness is super important,” she said. “But specifically this year we have a really complex snowpack, and there have unfortunately been multiple fatalities this season, and so getting the word out and making as many people as possible aware of the current state of our snowpack is super important.”
Utah has had four avalanche fatalities so far this season, the latest a skier a week ago near Alta. Utah Avalanche Center, the average annual avalanche fatality rate in Utah is 3.4 fatalities per year over the past 25 years, with a more recent five-year average of 1.6 fatalities per year.
Gordon, a skier and surfer, explained that the “avalanche dragon” lurks in the same way sharks might roam surf lines.
“This is my jam. I’m a skier, I love to ski, I like to be out on the snow, and what I’m thinking when I’m in the mountains, is whether I’m out surfing with the dolphins or swimming with the sharks,” said Gordon. “What I know is the sharks are always in schools. And if we have enough patience, eventually they’ll swim off shore and we can get out into the waters they once roamed.”
Many of key issues in avalanche terrain are created outside of human control, Gordon said. Understanding those variables can encourage people to make the right decisions within their scope of control.
“When the snowpack is the question, terrain is the answer,” he said.
With early November storms followed by a very warm and dry period, the snowpack across Utah formed a persistent weak layer of faceted, sugary snow that has brought considerable danger across the state.
“With hit-or-miss, nickel-or-dime storms, those are the trickiest, most peculiar, most dangerous snows. What we can do in these moments is rely on the weather. In the words of Bob Dylan, ‘You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.’ Use your observations to guide your conclusions about the snowpack,” said Gordon.
North facing zones that are steep, shallow and rocky are major hotspots for avalanche activity that adventurers should be wary of, said Gordon. When snowfall, temperatures and wind are at play, skiers are responsible for their own decisions about terrain.
“Our places are being loved to death,” he said. “Keep that in mind with your terrain choice. Be patient.”
Gordon, a lively speaker, engaged the audience as he has for nearly four decades, with humor, heart and a commitment to research and information. The Park City ski patrol union has partnered with him for many years with Know Before You Go events and State of Snowpack presentations.
“It just feels like a good way to give back to the community,” said Graves. “During our strike, the Park City community and the wider skiing community really supported us, and so we love to be able to give back in ways that we can as well. … Craig and the Utah Avalanche Center are just wonderful people and a wonderful organization to partner with.”