Good morning, this is Sue Burak with the Eastern Sierra Avalanche
   Center with an avalanche advisory posted on January 8, 2008.

   MOUNTAIN WEATHER
   Another storm is expected to produce 4-12 inches of new snow today
   above 9,000 ft from the Mammoth area north. 2 to 7 inches could fall
   in the upper Rock Creek drainage with less expected in Bishop Creek.

   Temperatures will remain cold with highs in the upper 20s and lows in
   the single digits and low teens at the 8,000 to 10,000 ft elevations.
   Above 10,000ft, highs will be in the low 20s. Southwest winds will
   continue Tuesday and Wednesday in the 20-45 mph range.

   SNOWPACK AND AVALANCHE DISCUSSION
   The snowpack continues to be sketchy. Depth hoar, cold temperatures
   and wind loading continue to be the avalanche concerns for today and
   tomorrow.

   There has been a LOT of wind transport over the last few days and wind
   drifting continues through the next couple of days. Beware of
   cross-loading...the wind deposition is not always directly downwind.
   Dangerous wind slabs are found on north to southeast facing slopes
   greater than 30 degrees. Watch for the dangerous combination of depth
   hoar and recent drifting at all elevations from 7,500 ft and higher.

   Skiers in the Table Mountain area experienced slope settlement and
   whumpfing Sunday afternoon. Three skiers coming down from Table
   Mountain triggered three avalanches in the approach gully. This gully
   is one of the terrain traps Tim Villaneuva discussed in his
   presentation in Bishop. No one was hurt.

   Another party skiing up the Bishop Creek canyon on an east slope above
   Haebeggers Resort reported loud settlement as they skied up to a 32
   degree slope. There was windslab on top with storm snow under the wind
   slab. All this was sitting on top of crappy depth hoar/refrozen ice
   crystals. This is similar to the snowpack around Red Mountain and
   McGee. The column failed during a couple of attempts to do a stability
   test.

   A skier reported a large full depth avalanche to the east of Mammoth
   Rock


   Do not underestimate the power of the wind to transport snow. On
   Mammoth Mountain, three hours passed between explosives control of a
   small accumulation zone and skier triggered slide in the very same
   area. The path reminded me of many small pockets in the backcountry-
   small enough to ignore but large enough to accumulate enough snow to
   bury a person.

   BOTTOM LINE
   The avalanche danger today is CONSIDERABLE for the Mammoth Lakes
   Basin, Bishop Creek and the Mt. Morrison to Rock Creek areas. Natural
   avalanches are possible and human triggered avalanches are likely. Any
   steep wind-loaded slope, greater than 30-35 degrees, especially on
   N-NE-E slopes, should be considered suspect.

   The outlook for Wednesday is for similar avalanche conditions as winds
   continue to transport snow.

   Please note that the avalanche danger rating in this advisory expires
   in 24 hours. This advisory is our best interpretation of snow pack
   conditions and NWS forecasts issued today. Backcountry travelers
   should be aware that elevation and geographic distinctions are
   approximate and that a transition zone exists between upper and lower
   elevations.