ZCZC SLCWRKSNW
TTAA00 KSLC 062204

Good afternoon, this  is Tom Kimbrough  with the Forest  Service,
Utah Avalanche  Forecast Center with your  avalanche and mountain
weather  bulletin for  the Salt  Lake area  mountains.   Today is
Friday, December 6 at 3:30 p.m.  This bulletin is  brought to you
in part  by a  generous donation from  The North Face,  makers of
technical clothing for the avid outdoor enthusiast.

There  is   an  avalanche  warning  in  effect  for  the  Wasatch
mountains.

The avalanche activity started in earnest this morning.  A little
better  visibility  down  by  Provo  showed   widespread  natural
avalanches.  Closer to  home, at least two backcountry  slopes on
the east side of the central Wasatch have also run, the northeast
face of Peak  10,420 and one  near Scott's Peak.   Ski Patrollers
doing  control work were caught in nasty slides in Big Cottonwood
and  on the  east side of  the range.   Both  are fortunately OK.
Another slope at a resort in middle Big Cottonwood ran naturally.
Again  on the  east  side of  the  range, control  work  produced
several  slides  breaking 1,000  feet wide  and also  activity at
lower elevations.  Many of these avalanches are breaking up to  4
feet deep.

The common factor in most of  these slides is the presence of the
November rain crust.  There  is now enough stress on the  faceted
snow  above this  crust  to  produce  sensitive and  also  tricky
avalanche conditions.   Although  some slopes without  this crust
have also run, the crust is a  good indicator that a slope may be
unstable.   If you are heading into the backcountry this weekend,
dig some pits.   If you find the crust and some loose sugary snow
on or  under it, keep  your slope angles low,  certainly under 35
degrees and maybe under  30, if your  tolerance for risk is  low,
and also stay out from under steep slopes.

The  Logan, Ogden and Provo  mountains may have  the most serious
rain crust and faceted  snow problems but there are  many similar
situations in the Cottonwoods and  Mill Creek especially at lower
elevations  and  away  from  the  upper  parts  of  the  canyons.
Although  much of the upper elevation snowpack may be more stable
in the Cottonwoods,  this is not to say that  there aren't places
where you could get avalanched.  There has been lots  of wind and
plenty of new snow in the last 24 hours.  Expect these smooth and
rounded newly deposited wind drifts to be sensitive to the weight
of  a  person  on  slopes  approaching  35  degrees  and steeper,
especially  above 9,000 feet on easterly facing slopes.  In upper
Big  and   Little  Cottonwood  the  danger   of  human  triggered
avalanches  is moderate to high on slopes with recent deposits of
wind drifted snow steeper than 35 degrees.

An  avalanche warning  is in  effect for  the  Wasatch mountains,
especially for the Logan, Ogden and  Provo areas.  In these areas
with  widespread  rain  crusts,  the danger  of  human  triggered
avalanches  is  high  on  slopes  steeper  than  30  degrees  and
spontaneous avalanches are possible. In these areas people should
avoid steep terrain and  avalanche run-out zones.  Be  careful of
what is above you.  Steeper slopes may be triggered  from near by
lower angle terrain.

Trail breaking is not too bad.  The dense snow from yesterday has 
formed something of a base for today's lighter snow so you don't 
sink in too far. A major advantage of this is that low angle slopes 
make very good turning so there is no need to stick your neck out 
too far.

Mountain weather:

Most of the precipitation from this storm seems to be over.  We will continue
to get snow showers this afternoon and evening but these will be mostly
from the lingering moisture and some lifting of the air over the mountains.
By later tonight the storm track will move northas ridging starts to move
into the Great Basin.  Additional accumulationsthis afternoon and evening
may be in the 1 to 3 inch range.  Lows tonight will be in the teens and
highs Saturday in the twenties.

Clouds will begin to break up Saturday but we don't expect clear skies until
Sunday.

For up to date information on road conditions in Little Cottonwood canyon tune
your radio to 530 on your AM dial.

This is Avalanche Awareness Week.  This weekend there will be a fun race at
1:00 p.m. at Solitude.  This race includes running gates and finding a beacon.
They have some great prizes.  Saturday evening there will be a beacon clinic
at Rockreation climbing gym.  Then on Sunday there will be a beacon clinic
especially for snowboarders between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm at Silver Lake near
the Solitude Nordic Center.  Finally there will be a social get-together at
the Salt Lake Roasting Company on Sunday night starting around 6:00 pm.

Logan:  Basic Avy Class Dec. 11 & 14.  Dec 11 lecture session 6:00 pm to 
10:00 pm at Biology bldg. #314.  Dec 14 field session 8:00 am all day. 
fee $ 30. Register at LAFC at Natural Resource bldg # 233 or by phone at
 797-0457.

To report avalanche activity and snow conditions give us a call and leave a
message on our answering machine.  Our office number is 524-5304.  You can
also call that number if you want a list of avalanche classes taught this
season.  Finally, you can get that information along with this bulletin and
a detailed mountain weather forecast on the Internet at www.avalanche.org.

Remember that because this bulletin covers a wide geographic area it offers
only generalized avalanche information.  Local variations always occur and
the ultimate responsibility for your own safety lies in your personal
routefinding and snow stability decisions.

The Utah Avalanche Center is brought to you by the Forest Service in
partnership with the National Weather Service, the State of Utah, Salt Lake
County and the Friends of the Utah Avalanche Forecast Center.

Evelyn Lees will update this bulletin by 7:30 on Saturday morning.

                 Thanks for calling.
                 Kimbrough