Annual Report 2003-04 Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center

1 

Snow and Avalanches 

Annual Report 2003-2004 

Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center 

In partnership with: 

Utah State Parks and Recreation 

Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center 

National Weather Service 

Utah Division of Comprehensive Emergency Management 

Salt Lake County 

Utah State University 
Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center Annual Report 2003-04 

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Cover photo: 

Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center Director, Bruce Tremper, examines the fracture line of a recent 

avalanche in the Argenta slide path in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Photo by Matt Klick using Bruce Tremper’s Camera. 

All Other Photos in this report: Bruce Tremper 

Copies of this report can be obtained by writing, calling or e-mailing: 

Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center 

2242 W. North Temple 

Salt Lake City, UT 84116 

801-524-5304 phone 

801-524-6301 fax 

uac@avalanche.org 

Or view online at: 

www.avalanche.org and click on Salt Lake 
Annual Report 2003-04 Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center

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Table of Contents 

Overview—Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center ......................................... 1 

How we Generate Avalanche Advisories ..................................................... 4 

Season Highlights .................................................................................... 6 

New This Season and Plans for the Next .................................................. 7 

Access to Utah Avalanche Center Products .................................................. 8 

Season Weather Summary ........................................................................ 10 

Avalanche Incidents and Accidents ............................................................. 14 

Avalanche Education ................................................................................. 26 

Media Contacts ....................................................................................... 28 

Budget ................................................................................................ 30 

Appendix ........................................................................................... 32 
Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center Annual Report 2003-04 

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The Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center—An Overview 

Our goal:

Help keep people on top of the Greatest Snow on Earth instead of buried beneath it. 

Where do avalanche accidents occur?

Ninety nine percent of all avalanche fatalities occur in the backcountry—areas outside of ski area boundaries 

where no avalanche control is done. Ski areas and highway avalanche control crews routinely knock down avalanches with explosives before the public arrives each morning. They have done their jobs so well that since 1980, 

less than one percent of avalanche fatalities have involved general public on open runs at ski areas or on open highways. 

What kind of people get caught in avalanches?

Ninety two percent of people killed in avalanches since 1985 have been recreationists, and they are almost always 

very skilled in their sport. In almost all cases their skill in their sport significantly outpaces their avalanche skills. 

Looking at the most recent 5 years of national data, nearly twice as many snowmobilers have been killed as any 

other user group, followed by climbers, backcountry skiers, snowboarders and miscellaneous recreationists such 

as hikers and snowshoers. 

How do people get caught?

In over 90 percent of avalanche fatalities, the avalanche was triggered by the victim or someone in the victim’s 

party. Which is actually good, because it means that, 90 percent of the time, we can avoid avalanche accidents 

through our route finding and snow stability decisions. 

 In summary, avalanche fatalities occur almost exclusively in the backcountry, almost always involve recreationists, 

and almost all avalanche incidents can be avoided if we choose.

We give backcountry travelers the weapon of knowledge. In order to avoid triggering avalanches, backcountry 

travelers need: 

Critical, up-to-date avalanche information.

Our avalanche advisories give the public critical avalanche information they need to make their life-and-death decisions in avalanche terrain and we forecast snow stability and weather trends into the future. Our information 

helps the public to decide what kind of terrain is safe, what kind is dangerous and we give them useful clues to look 

for when they venture into avalanche terrain. 

 The public can access these advisories in the following ways: 

• Recorded telephone message updated each day 

• Live interviews each day on three different public radio stations 

• The Internet 

• E-Mail 
Annual Report 2003-04 Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center

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• In times of extreme or unusual avalanche conditions, we issue an avalanche warning that reaches all the broadcast and print media as well as NOAA weather radio. 

 Finally, we “preach the avalanche gospel” as much as possible to the local, national and international media. This 

season, for instance, several documentaries played on national television including the History Channel and the 

Weather Channel and National Geographic re-aired a previous documentary. The Forest Service Utah Avalanche 

Center staff is featured in all of these documentaries. 

Avalanche education:

We teach about 30 free, basic avalanche awareness classes each season. These not only give the public an overview of the avalanche problem, but also some basic avalanche skills. These classes encourage the public to take a 

more involved avalanche class offered by the private sector. 

How we Help Solve the Problem: 

Just because people read or hear the information doesn’t mean they listen. Therefore, we try to make the advisories entertaining so that people will remember what they read and hear and enjoy the experience enough to use 

the advisories regularly. We try and use all the standard tools of effective writing and speaking such as using active 

voice, first person, personal examples and stories to illustrate points, humor where appropriate and reading the 

bulletins in a natural voice, like talking to a friend. The recorded bulletins are informal, chatty and funny, yet informative. 

 

We believe local forecasters do a much better job than distant forecasters.

Local people know local conditions better. They can get out in the mountains every day, they see weather and 

snow out their window and they talk with people on the street about it. Because of this, we believe that local people should issue avalanche bulletins for local areas, as long as they have the avalanche skills to do so. For this reason, four crews of avalanche forecasters operate in Utah, one forecaster operates in Logan, four in Salt Lake City, 

one in the western Uinta Mountains and two others cover the Manti Skyline and the La Sal Mountains near Moab. 

We believe in a strong field-based program.

Avalanche forecasting is just as much art as science. And because of this, computers never have, and most likely 

never will, be able to forecast avalanche hazard as well as an experienced and skilled human being. Avalanche forecasting works best when the forecaster has an intimate, daily connection to the snowpack. We notice that the 

longer we spend in an office, the more out of touch with the snowpack we become. Therefore we always put in 

one or more field days before our forecasting shift, and we seldom have more than two forecast days in a row. 

 This is our philosophy and it seems to be working. More people access the FSUAC bulletin each season than any 

other avalanche advisory in North America, and the number keep increasing by an average of 20 percent per year. 

The numbers of people going into the backcountry keep increasing exponentially, yet the death rate has risen 

more slowly. We also see an increasing demand for avalanche education and information, not only by Utahans, 

but also by the national and international media. 

 

We are very passionate about our work because it’s more than a job, it saves lives. 
Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center Annual Report 2003-04 

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A Look Under the Hood

 The UAC is operationally separated into four entities: 

• Bear River Range (Logan area – northern Utah and southeast Idaho) 

• Wasatch Mountains (Ogden, Salt Lake, Park City and Provo area mountains) 

• Western Uinta Mountains (Mirror Lake Highway, Weber Canyon, Evanston WY, Daniel’s Summit) 

• Manti Skyline (Fairfield Canyon – Wasatch Plateau) 

• La Sal Mountains (near Moab) 

 In his second season, Toby Weed staffs the Logan operation with Dave Kickert as an assistant. Kickert is employed by Utah State University. A generous contribution from the Utah State Parks funds this position. 

 Based in Moab, Evan Stevens and Max Forgensi forecast not only for the nearby La Sal Mountains but they also 

issue weekend forecasts for the Wasatch Plateau—Manti Skyline area. The Moab office is located in the Moab 

Ranger District on the Manti-Lasal National Forest and us supported by both the Moab Ranger district and a generous contribution from Utah State Parks. 

 Craig Gordon issues forecaster for the western Uinta Mountains and also does the lion’s share of avalanche education for snowmobilers in northern Utah. This position is supported by a generous contribution from Utah State 

Parks. 

 

Last, but not least, the vast majority of the backcountry use occurs in the Wasatch Range of northern Utah. A 

staff of four full time workers covers the Ogden, Salt Lake City, Park City and Provo area mountains—arguably the 

most heavily used mountain range in the U.S. Bruce Tremper, in his 18th season, is the Director. The rest of the 

very experienced Salt Lake staff include: Evelyn Lees, Drew Hardesty and Andrew McLean. All are Forest Service 

employees under the Wasatch-Cache National Forest. The Salt Lake office is co-located with the National 

Weather Service at the Salt Lake International Airport. 

 Lastly, a private, nonprofit group, the Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center, contracts a number of “volunteer” 

observers, who are reimbursed for their expenses at around $10.00 per day. They also hire the intrepid Bob 

Athey as a full time backcountry observer and Brett Kobernik as a part-time observer. 

 The Utah Avalanche Center is a Forest Service program under the Wasatch-Cache National Forest and the 

Manti-La Sal National Forest, in partnership with Utah State University, the State of Utah Department of Public 

Safety, Division of Emergency Management, Salt Lake County, the National Weather Service and private contributions through the Friends of the Utah Avalanche Forecast Center. 

The public can access the bulletins in the following ways:

Telephone:

Salt Lake City - (multi-line PBX system at the University of Utah) (801) 364-1581 

Logan (multi-line PBX system at Utah State University) (435) 797-4146 

Park City (multi-line PBX system at Park City Resort) (435) 658-5512 

Ogden (multi-line PBX system at Weber State University) (801) 626-8600 

Provo (multi-line PBX system at Brigham Young University) (435) 378-4333 

Western Uinta Mountains (courtesy of Utah State Parks) (800) 648-7433 

Alta (multi-line PBX system through the Town of Alta) (801) 742-0830 

Moab (single phone line) (435) 259-7669 

Manti Skyline (courtesy of Utah State Parks) (800) 648-7433 

Snowmobile hotline (courtesy of Utah State Parks) (800) 648-7433 
Annual Report 2003-04 Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center

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Radio Stations - live on-air reports each morning 

KRCL 91 FM (7:50 am each morning) 

KPCW 92 FM ((8:06 am each morning) 

KCPW 105.7 FM (8:04 am each morning) 

Internet:

http://www.avalanche.org (Avalanche.org is a non-profit avalanche web site run by the professional avalanche 

community in the U.S.) 

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/Saltlake (National Weather Service) 

http://www.csac.org (Cyberspace Snow and Avalanche Center) 

E-mail: 

We offer daily automated e-mail of the advisories free of charge 

To contact our office: (801) 524-5304 (phone) 

 (801) 524-4030 (fax) 

 e-mail: uac@avalanche.org 

 

 

How We Generate Avalanche Advisories 

 We split our time more or less equally between the mountains and the office. For the Wasatch Range, 

A staff of four people rotate through the office in which one person comes in at 4:00 am to issue the forecast for 

the day while the others either head into the mountains to look at avalanche conditions, teach avalanche classes or 

come into the office at a more reasonable hour to work on various computer or education projects. 

Field Day: 

A typical "field day" might begin at 6:00 in the morning. Like most avalanche professionals, we click on 

our trusty NOAA weather radio shortly after getting out of bed for the latest weather forecast. Then, we fire up 

our home computer to look at the data from all the automated mountain weather stations. Like everyone else, 

we call our own avalanche advisory to get the latest information. Finally, after calling the forecaster for the day to 

check out, we jump in the car or on the bus and head for the mountains. 

 The forecaster in the field usually travels on skis or snowmobile or both, using all the usual safety equipment like electronic avalanche beacons, shovels, probes, belay rope and cell phones. We seldom have a regular 

patrol area, but simply go to the area that concerns us the most, or to a place that we know is representative, 

where we can safely look at snow on a variety of aspects, elevations and terrain types. We almost always go into 

the backcountry—meaning areas outside ski area boundaries where no avalanche control is done. Field days are 

often very labor intensive affairs, using climbing skins on skis to huff-and-puff to the top of a mountain, take off the 

skins, ski down into another valley, put the skins back on again, go to another ridge, and so on. Along the way we 

dig a number of “snow pits” in which we systematically test the stability of the snowpack. 

 Field information comes from many different sources, but the most powerful information usually comes 

from snow pits we dig on a variety of different slopes, or better yet, from profiles dug at the fracture lines of recent avalanches. A snow pit, like the name implies, is a hole dug in the snow about a 5 feet deep and 5 feet wide. 

On a smoothed snow pit wall, we perform a variety of stress tests to determine the stability of the snowpack and 

document the shear properties of weak layers. We also look at the crystallography of the various layers—crystal 

type, size, strength, water content and density, as well as measure temperature profile. Practiced avalanche professional usually take about 15 minutes for each snow pit. We would rather dig several quick pits in several areas than 
Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center Annual Report 2003-04 

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do one detailed pit in one specific area because we want to know the distribution of the pattern so we can communicate the pattern to the public. 

 We also test the stability of the snow in other ways, such as sawing off cornices, which bounce down the 

slope, we keep close track of the pattern of recent avalanches and we always pay very close attention to the present snow surface because it's much easier to map a layer of snow when it's still on the surface then after it's buried by the next storm. Finally, when we get home, we write up our observation, graph the snow pit profiles and email them to the avalanche center and also leave a detailed message on our answer machine in the office, which 

the forecaster will hear early the next morning. Often, we post photos of the day on our web site as well. Finally, 

each evening, we often call the person who will forecast the next day and talk to them in more detail, catch up on 

news of the day and bounce theories off each other. 

It takes years of experience and training to be an accomplished avalanche forecaster, not to mention to 

be able to do it safely. Most of our staff have degrees in some kind of physical science such as meteorology or 

geology. We also have a number of years experience doing avalanche control at ski areas, plus, all are accomplished mountaineers with many decades of accumulated mountain experience and several are veterans of mountaineering expeditions throughout the world including Nepal, South America and Alaska. Finally, we all stay in top 

physical condition so we can efficiently cover lots of terrain. 

Office:

 The forecaster for the day wakes up around 3:00 am—earlier on storm days—and arrives at our office, 

co-located with the National Weather Service near the Salt Lake Airport, around 4:00 am. There's only one avalanche person in the office, so the pressure and time constraint is intense. 

 First, the lead weather forecaster for the National Weather Service briefs us on the general weather 

setup and then it’s time to jump on the National Weather Service computers and give the weather an even more 

detailed look, so it can be adapted to specific mountain areas. Then, we check our answer machines, faxes and emails for field observations not only from our staff, but from a dedicated corps of volunteer observers, ski areas, 

helicopter skiing companies and highway control programs. Next, the forecaster has to face a blank computer 

screen and type up a detailed picture of snow stability and mountain weather and customize the advisory for five 

different zones in northern Utah. After the advisory goes out via e-mail and on the Internet, we begin recording 

the advisories into six different telephone systems, each located in a different local calling area for northern Utah 

and each one customized for a different area. Finally, we, do three live radio interviews. By 8:15 am, we’re done 

and we collapse with relief, take that bathroom break we've needed for the last couple hours and take a walk outside and watch the sun rise and hope that our information is accurate. An average of 800 people call the avalanche 

recording and four times that number get it over the Internet, and many thousands hear it on the radio. 

 Then, just when many people are eating their breakfast, we eat lunch. After lunch—or is it breakfast—

there’s never a lack of telephone calls to answer, reports to write, spreadsheets and web sites to update, computer projects and media contacts. Finally, we issue the detailed mountain weather forecast by about noon, then 

head home by 1:00 pm. 
Annual Report 2003-04 Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center

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Season Highlights

• Four avalanche fatalities occurred during the 2003-04 season in two different accidents, which is slightly 

over our average. All of the fatalities occurred in the Wasatch Range and they occurred to inexperienced 

parties during large snow or wind storms when avalanche hazard had risen rapidly. 

• Despite the four fatalities, only 59 unintentional human triggered avalanches occurred in the backcountry, 

which is much less than the average of 100. 

• Demand for our products continues to grow at an average of 20 percent per year—50 percent increase 

for the past two seasons. This season, nearly a million requests for our products occurred, including the 

daily avalanche advisory, photos of avalanches, a list of avalanches, a mountain weather forecast, avalanche 

education material and media information. 

• Utah experienced its seventh drought year in a row with most areas remaining around 70 percent of normal snowfall. As is often the case in drought years, the snow-blessed, Cottonwood Canyon resorts ended 

up with near normal precipitation. 

• We taught 38 avalanche classes to a total of 1758 people. 

• The media continued its interest in avalanches with a total of 41 media contacts. There were three interviews by national television including NBC Nightly News, CNN the History Channel and a re-airing of a 

previous interview by National Geographic. In addition, a documentary filmed last spring on avalanches 

featuring UAC staff aired on the History Channel. There were nine interviews by national print media, 14 

interviews by local television stations, one national radio interview, three local radio interviews and 11 

interviews by local print media. 
Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center Annual Report 2003-04 

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New This Season and Plans for the Next 

Andrew McLean joins the UAC Staff 

Last season, long time forecaster Tom Kimbrough retired after 37 years as a professional avalanche forecaster, 

and this season, Andrew McLean began his first year as an avalanche forecaster at the Utah Avalanche Center. 

Andrew is perhaps Utah’s most well-known backcountry skier. He pioneered many of the extreme ski descents in the Wasatch Range and wrote the book The Chuting Gallery, which is a guidebook to Utah’s steep 

descents. In addition, as an understudy to the mountain legend (and ex-UAC staff) Alex Lowe, Andrew is the 

veteran of many ski mountaineering expeditions throughout the world including Antarctica, Tibet, Baffin Island 

and Alaska. Before he joined the UAC staff, Andrew worked as the product designer for Black Diamond 

Equipment in Salt Lake City and is credited with designing many of their most successful products. In addition, 

Andrew is one of the top randonnee rally racers in the U.S., which is a grueling 2-hour backcountry skiing 

event in which the racers ascend and descend several mountains on skis. Finally, Andrew brings much-needed 

computer skills to the job as well as a dry sense of humor and the respect of a young generation of mountain 

recreationists. 

New Web Site 

Our web site seemed so nice when we created it several years ago, but we have added so many new services 

and products, that navigation has become a nightmare. This summer, we plan to update the web site to a 

more modern design with a simpler navigation system. In addition, we are looking for ways to make the avalanche advisory more Internet-friendly, since 82 percent of our customers now access the advisory over the 

Internet as opposed to the recorded telephone advisory. We want to create an advisory that is more graphicbased and visually appealing, yet still easy for our forecasters to update. 

Avalanche Education Program Being Developed for Youth Groups 

For the past several seasons, we have recognized the need for avalanche education in Utah schools and youth 

groups but we have never had the time or funding to make much of a dent in the problem. This past season, 

however, the tragic triple fatality at Aspen Grove in the Provo area mountains brought the problem to a head. 

Through diligent work, mostly by Craig Gordon, we managed to come up with enough funding to launch an 

avalanche education program in Utah schools and youth groups for the 2004-05 season. Most of the funding 

has come from Utah State Parks with the rest from The Backcountry Store, Friends of the Utah Avalanche 

Center and other partners yet to be determined. We plan to create a 15-minute introductory video and a 20-

minute PowerPoint presentation. It will be a turnkey operation in which local ski patrollers, avalanche rescue 

personnel or an interested avalanche victim could play the video, tell their avalanche story and then finish with 

a basic PowerPoint presentation. This would occur at 50-minute school assemblies or other youth group 

meetings. The funding would pay for the development and management of the program and also a stipend for 

the presenters. The program is being administered by the Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center and UAC 

staff member, Craig Gordon, will provide the expertise for development. 

Access to Utah Avalanche Products 
Annual Report 2003-04 Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center

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Access to Utah Avalanche Center Products 

 The number of requests for our products continued the long term trend of about 20 percent increase 

per year. Beginning in 1998, we began to distribute our products on the Internet in addition to the time-honored 

daily recorded telephone advisory. Since that time, we have seen an explosion in the number different types of 

products requested with a 50 percent increase over the past two seasons. The landscape of avalanche products 

available and how they are distributed has changed dramatically in the past half-dozen years. 

 Over the Internet, we now offer not only the text of our recorded telephone advisory, but a mountain 

weather forecast, a list of backcountry avalanches, photos of avalanches, avalanche incidents and avalanche lessons, 

snowpack profiles, terrain maps, graphs of avalanche statistics, avalanche education primers and a media packet. 

The photos, especially, have been extremely popular, and provide invaluable avalanche educational as well. It’s one 

thing to hear or read about a human-triggered avalanche 3 feet deep and 300 feet wide, and it’s quite something 

else to see photos of size and destruction, along with a narrative of what happened and why. Armed with digital 

cameras, we often return from the field and we post photos and a narrative of avalanche conditions on the web 

that same evening or the next morning. It has proved to be a very powerful tool. 

 Seven years ago, 100 percent of our customers accessed the advisory via the recorded telephone message and this season, only 14 percent get the advisory over the telephone while 45 percent access it through the 

web site and 40 percent receive the advisory as a free, automated daily e-mail. Because of this, it’s important to 

adapt avalanche information to the medium of the Internet, namely making the advisory more graphic-based with 

smaller, bulleted information. We have added so many new products to our web site that we have outgrown the 

original design and navigation has become cumbersome. For next season, we plan to completely redesign the web 

site as well as the avalanche advisory. The plan is to make it much more graphic-based and visually appealing. 

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000

800,000

900,000

1,000,000

Number of Times Accessed

1977197819791980198119821983198419851986198719881989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004

Year

Total Avalanche Product Access Statewide

Photos

Other Web Products

Internet Weather Hits

E-mail Advisory

Internet Advisory Hits

Total Telephone Statewide
Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center Annual Report 2003-04 

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Total Utah Avalanche Product Use 

2003-2004

( 936,809 Total Public Accesses of UAC Avalanche Products)

Total Telephone 

Statew ide

Internet Advisory Hits

E-mail Advisory

Internet Weather Hits

Photos

Other Web Products

Distribution of UAC products continues its exponential growth. We see a clear trend that people prefer to access advisory and mountain weather forecasts through the Internet rather than the phone lines. Only 18 percent of our customers still access the forecast via the recorded telephone advisory. 

The Internet also allows us to offer more products, such as e-mail of the advisory, posting photos on the web and a list of avalanches. 
Annual Report 2003-04 Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center

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Season Summary – Weather, Snow and Avalanche Incidents 

Like most of the West, we had a relatively relaxing year with a mostly stable snowpack. Despite this, we had four 

fatalities in two different incidents involving inexperienced groups during large snow or wind storms when avalanche danger rapidly increased. In contrast to the past several seasons, snow began early and never let up until 

mid winter, giving us a deep, stable snowpack without depth hoar, which is always something to celebrate in the 

western U.S. 

November 

It snowed nearly every day in November piling up 150 percent of normal snow. The month started with 2-3 feet 

of new snow that gave most areas good coverage. Unfortunately, a thick layer of surface hoar formed on the first 

weekend and the next storm promptly buried it. Many people received an education in the sensitive and persistent nature of surface hoar. The closest call—and the closest call of the season—occurred when a well-known, 

hard-core snowmobiler triggered an avalanche on Logan Peak in the Logan Area Mountains and was buried 3 feet 

deep, directly under his still-running snowmobile. His friends heard the snowmobile and dug it out and found him 

underneath. He was buried for about 10 minutes. Afterwards, his friends brought him down to his cabin he owns 

in the area, where he warmed up. Interesting enough, he is the owner of S&S Power, one of the world’s premier 

amusement ride manufacturers and they had recently built the world’s fastest roller coaster in Japan. Perhaps he 

finally found a ride exciting enough for him. 

Fortunately, the surface hoar settled out surprisingly fast and most of November was one of the finest early season 

snowpacks anyone could remember with mostly stable snow and very good turning and riding conditions. 

December 

The honeymoon continued through December with 164 percent of normal snow. Several perfect snow storms 

arrived before Christmas—light snow followed by several clear days. The notable exception was light rain on the 

13th combined with howling winds, which deposited a dirty brown layer of dust blown in from southern Utah. We 

called it the “snirt” layer—a cross between snow and dirt—and it was a distinctive marker in our snow pits 

through the rest of the season. These thin rain crusts are often problematic because they grow faceted snow 

above and below them, and they concentrate mechanical energy around the crust as well. But temperatures remained warm and snow continued to pile on, limiting the faceting around the crust and it never produced too 

many avalanches. 

The Big Christmas Snow Storm 

The two-month party of stable powder snow ended as Christmas brought a whopper of a snowstorm, which piled 

up 3-4 feet of snow in the valley and 5-6 feet in the mountains, most coming in just two days. It was the second 

largest snow storm ever recorded in Salt Lake, which nearly brought the town to a standstill. For several days 

afterwards, most streets remained unplowed and many areas went without power. Unless people manically shoveled twice per day for those two intense days, parking spaces and sidewalks remained hopelessly buried until 

spring. 
Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center Annual Report 2003-04 

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Aspen Grove Fatalities 

The day after Christmas, near Aspen Grove area in the Provo area mountains, despite an avalanche warning in 

effect, fourteen different people were playing in the runout of one of the largest avalanche paths in Utah. The 

natural avalanche descended nearly 4,000 vertical feet, catching six people and completely burying three snowboarders in their early 20’s, none wearing beacons. The debris covered an area the size of 22 football fields with a 

likely search area of 11 football fields to a depth of 10-25 feet. In a gruesome event that dominated the media for a 

number of days, one body was recovered with a probe line two days after the accident and the other two bodies 

melted out in spring. 

Several other close calls occurred during or just after the big Christmas storm with seven unintentional human 

triggered avalanches in the backcountry. 

January High Pressure 

On New Year’s Day, a huge wind storm arrived in the afternoon, which created widespread areas of sensitive 

wind slabs but they settled out fairly quickly. Then, after a small snow storm, the snow spigot finally turned off, and 

for most of January, choking smog built up in the valleys while extensive layers of near-surface, faceted snow and 

surface hoar formed in the mountains. We went for 20 days straight without any reported avalanches or avalanche incidents in the backcountry. 

February 

The February storms teased us along as none of them added enough of a load to send us into a major avalanche 

cycle. The thin snowpack areas had developed a thick layer of faceted snow during the January drought and we 

continued to warn people about thin snowpack areas, such as the east side of the Wasatch Range and lower elevations. Although there were several close calls from hair-trigger snow in the thin snowpack areas, no serious incidents occurred. 

But finally, on February 26th, a big wind storm overloaded many slopes, and in Empire Canyon, a low elevation 

slope just on the outskirts of Park City, a snowshoer visiting from Houston, Texas triggered a small avalanche in a 

narrow, wooded, low elevation gully and was buried about four feet deep without a beacon. Local residents just a 

few hundred yards down the road responded and recovered him but it was too late. 

March and April – Record Warmth and Little Snow 

March is usually the snowiest month of winter for Utah but other than one storm in the first week, nearly no 

snow fell all month. Combined with record high temperatures, the mountain snowpack not only lost a record 

amount of snow in March, but it lost an incredible 400 percent more than any previous March on record. April 

was disappointing as well and both months finished with a little over half the average snowfall for the month. Thus, 

the season ended with a whimper. 

We finished the season with four fatalities—slightly over average—yet because of the stable snowpack, we recorded only 56 unintentional human triggered avalanches in the backcountry, which is nearly half our yearly average of 100. Despite this, demands for our products continue to grow rapidly with around a million accesses, in-
Annual Report 2003-04 Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center

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Alta November - April Snowfall 

1946-2003

300.0

350.0

400.0

450.0

500.0

550.0

600.0

650.0

700.0

750.0

19461947194819491950195119521953195419551956195719581959196019611962196319641965196619671968196919701971197219731974197519761977197819791980198119821983198419851986198719881989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004

Winter

Inches of Snowfall

Average

Although most of the Northern Utah has experienced six years of drought, the Cottonwood Canyons (below) always seems to end up not 

far from their normal. One reason may be that the past several seasons were unusually warm and the Cottonwood Canyon resorts are 

higher elevation than most areas, so they were less affected by the warm temperatures. 
Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center Annual Report 2003-04 

16 

Season

Year 

ending Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. Total

1944-45 1945 --- 57.0 19.5 67.0 --- 57.0

1945-46 1946 109.0 83.0 84.5 50.0 69.0 55.5 451.0

1946-47 1947 69.0 63.0 61.0 53.0 68.0 60.0 374.0

1947-48 1948 118.0 80.0 46.0 66.0 165.0 74.0 549.0

1948-49 1949 71.0 160.0 132.0 58.0 97.0 5.0 523.0

1949-50 1950 39.0 137.0 133.0 34.0 109.0 25.0 477.0

1950-51 1951 60.0 66.0 112.0 58.0 53.0 0.0 349.0

1951-52 1952 67.0 156 115.0 105.0 163.0 35.0 641.0

1952-53 1953 44.0 65.0 112.0 40.0 93.0 57.0 411.0

1953-54 1954 50.0 107.0 54.0 57.0 101.0 14.0 383.0

1954-55 1955 37.0 53.0 134.0 129.0 60.0 59.0 472.0

1955-56 1956 86.0 112.0 103.0 72.0 33.0 54.0 460.0

1956-57 1957 36.0 50.0 86.0 41.0 97.0 76.0 386.0

1957-58 1958 74.0 79.5 83.5 131.5 80.0 111.0 559.5

1958-59 1959 38.0 47.5 81.0 107.0 84.5 28.0 386.0

1959-60 1960 22.0 39.5 59.0 155.0 92.0 28.0 395.5

1960-61 1961 75.0 40.0 1.0 62.0 113.0 35.0 326.0

1961-62 1962 46.0 82.5 86.0 110.0 35.0 42.0 401.5

1962-63 1963 31.0 17.0 85.0 39.0 93.0 136.0 401.0

1963-64 1964 55.0 53.0 108.0 68.0 183.0 99.0 566.0

1964-65 1965 95.0 141.0 150.0 66.0 44.0 77.0 573.0

1965-66 1966 69.0 69.0 73.0 103.0 70.0 49.0 433.0

1966-67 1967 53.0 84.0 168.0 72.0 61.0 106.0 544.0

1967-68 1968 22.0 131.0 39.0 84.0 70.0 133.5 479.5

1968-69 1969 87.5 132.6 113.0 148.0 35.0 50.0 566.1

1969-70 1970 56.0 70.0 103.5 60.5 79.0 90.0 459.0

1970-71 1971 79.0 142.0 58.0 73.5 87.0 42.0 481.5

1971-72 1972 64.5 159.0 94.5 45.0 47.0 56.6 466.6

1972-73 1973 ---- 122.0 64.5 77.0 124.0 109.0 496.5

1973-74 1974 90.9 128.2 104.5 91.0 45.0 136.0 595.6

1974-75 1975 25.5 146.5 104.0 88.0 151.0 90.0 605.0

1975-76 1976 94.0 67.0 74.5 69.0 93.0 42.0 439.5

1976-77 1977 13.5 17.0 50.5 73.5 129.0 31.0 314.5

1977-78 1978 53.0 106.5 99.5 92.5 85.0 88.0 524.5

1978-79 1979 62.5 96.0 78.5 86.0 71.0 94.0 588.0

1979-80 1980 79.5 27.0 143.0 112.5 123.0 29.0 514.0

1980-81 1981 40.0 34.0 73.0 82.0 110.0 52.0 391.0

1981-82 1982 47.0 184.0 143.0 85.0 164.0 73.0 696.0

1982-83 1983 66.0 165.0 75.5 68.0 150.0 112.5 637.0

1983-84 1984 143.5 244.5 42.0 104.0 85.0 124.5 743.5

1984-85 1985 112.5 105.0 44.0 61.5 99.5 34.5 457.0

1985-86 1986 132.0 62.0 56.0 112.7 100.0 135.7 599.0

1986-87 1987 73.0 12.3 96.0 73.0 104.0 23.5 381.8

1987-88 1988 30.0 91.0 105.1 39.75 115.5 29.0 410.3

1988-89 1989 172.5 124.5 70.75 97.5 64.75 52.0 581.5

Snowfall at Alta 1945- Present
Annual Report 2003-04 Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center

17 

1990-91 1991 109.5 91.0 82.8 49.7 110.9 136.3 580.2 

1991-92 1992 133.4 57.2 41.8 85 50.1 27.5 395.0 

1992-93 1993 118.8 119.2 165.3 102.9 63.0 81.2 650.4 

1993-94 1994 40.7 64.85 122.7 134.05 47.2 80.8 490.3 

1994-95 1995 205.9 73.8 199.7 56.3 128.9 80.7 745.4 

1995-96 1996 57 53 187 104 82 79 562 

1996-97 1997 78.3 164.8 141.5 91 53.8 69.7 599.1 

1997-98 1998 46.3 81.8 128.9 156.6 92.3 69 574.9 

1998-99 1999 76.5 43.1 105.3 98 46.5 89 458.4 

1999-2000 2000 30.0 97.0 100.0 119.5 84.0 15.5 446.0 

2000-2001 2001 88.0 71.0 66.2 79.5 53.0 112.0 469.7 

2001-2002 2002 137 86.1 100.9 53.4 142.2 48.1 567.7 

2001-2003 2003 42 78.7 26 84.1 93.8 74.8 399.4 

2003-04 2004 110 151 74.3 130 62 43.5 570.8 

 

Average 73.1 92.1 94.1 83.8 89.6 66.0 499.1 

 

Maximum 205.9 244.5 199.7 156.6 183 136.3 745.4 

Year of Max 94 83 95 97 64 91 95 

Avalanche Incidents and Accidents 

 Because of a very stable snowpack the number of avalanche incidents and accidents was dramatically 

lower than the past several seasons. We were aware of only 59 unintentional human triggered avalanches in the 

backcountry, of which 39 were caught, six partially buried, five totally buried and four killed. In contrast, last 

season we had nearly triple the number of avalanche incidents. Despite this, the number of fatalities—four—

was near Utah’s annual average. 

 

Close call with a snowmobiler in the Logan Area Mountains. 

 A well-known, hard-core snowmobile rider on Logan Peak had a very close call on November 11th

when he triggered an avalanche and was completely buried directly under his snowmobile. He was not wearing 

a beacon, so his partners dug out his still-running snowmobile and luckily found him underneath. He was buried 

about ten minutes. Afterwards, his friends brought him down to his cabin he had built in the area, where he 

warmed up. It’s safe to say that the victim was accustomed to scary rides as he is the owner of S&S Power, one 

of the world’s premier amusement ride manufacturers and they had recently built the world’s fastest roller 

coaster in Japan. 

Triple fatality at Aspen Grove on Mt. Timpanogos 12-26-2003 

Every few years, Utah has an avalanche incident large enough and shocking enough to dominate the media for 

many days and linger in the consciousness of the local community for many years. This was one of those incidents. 

 It occurred the day after Christmas after a huge snow storm laid down around five feet of snow in the 
Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center Annual Report 2003-04 

18 

mountains. It occurred near Aspen Grove, which is a popular, winter trailhead on the east side of Mt. Timpanogos 

in the Provo Area Mountains just past Sundance Ski area at the end of a dead-end road. Several large avalanche 

paths terminate near the parking lot and it has been the scene of many close calls in the past. With a large snow 

storm on a holiday weekend, it was only natural that people wanted to get into the backcountry to try out their 

new Christmas toys. The runout apron of the huge Elk Point avalanche path terminates only a few hundred yards 

from the Aspen Grove trailhead and a total of 14 people were snowshoeing, snowboarding and skiing at the bottom, directly beneath with any avalanches that might descend from above. Elk Point avalanche path descends 

nearly 4,000 vertical feet from the high, steep peaks above and the starting zones of several large avalanche paths 

all drain down into the area where the accident occurred. 

 We had issued an avalanche warning that day because of the large amounts of new snow. Late in the day, 

it appears that the avalanche released on its own, high above them, and the slab avalanche propagated across several large avalanche paths. Although we were never able to access the fracture line directly and visibility was poor 

following the accident, we estimate that the fracture was 4-5 feet deep with a total fracture line length of close to a 

mile. The resulting huge volume of snow funneled together through a narrow gap in the cliffs, where five snowboarders were hiking up, and then the avalanche fanned out on the gentler apron, about 11 acres in size. Three of 

the five snowboarders were completely buried and killed. 

 It was amazing that more people were not killed. In addition to the five snowboarders high up in the narrow part of the gully, two skiers were tucked in beneath a protective cliff, off to the side, when the avalanche 

roared past them. In addition, two other people were lower and to the side of the apron. One was able to 

scramble off to the side and the other was caught and carried down the mountain and mostly buried. Finally, a 

family of five was near the terminus of the avalanche path and they were close enough to be knocked down by the 

air blast of the avalanche. 

 Of the five snowboarders high in the narrow gully, the initial wave of the avalanche carried them far down 

the apron and partially buried two of them. Both dug themselves out and then another wave of the avalanche hit 

one of the snowboarders and carried him farther down the slope and partially buried him again. The other three 

snowboarders were completely buried and killed. Since none of them had beacons, it was impossible to find them 

in time to save their lives. 

 Rescue crews faced a grim situation when they arrived. The avalanche debris covered a total of 11 acres 

on the apron where the 14 people were recreating and if you added the runout of an adjacent lobe of the same 

avalanche path that ran at the same time, the debris covered 22 acres. In addition, the probe poles of the rescuers 

are 10-15 feet long and almost all the avalanche debris was deeper than their probes. Since the victims had 

climbed up high into the choke of the apron, when the avalanche hit them, the debris spread out as it descended, 

meaning that they could end up virtually anywhere in the 11 acres of debris. Despite heroic effort of the rescuers 

over a number of days, with such deep, dense avalanche debris, the avalanche rescue dogs could not find the victims and probing for them was a needle-in-a-haystack situation. The first victim was found with a probe line two 

days after the accident and the other two victims melted out in spring. 

Snowshoer fatality In Empire Canyon near Park City 2-26-2004 

 The snow drought during January created widespread areas of weak snow on all the shady slopes and 

ones with a shallow snowpack. When snow began to fall again in February, we continued to warn people about 

shallow snowpack areas where new snow was overloading layers of surface hoar, near surface faceted snow and 

depth hoar near the ground. The east side of the Wasatch Range is historically a shallow snowpack area because it 
Annual Report 2003-04 Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center

19 

 

is on the downwind side of the range. The accident occurred on a low elevation slope on the east side of the 

range where the snowpack was especially thin and weak. 

 On The day of the accident, heavy snow combined with strong wind created a rapidly-rising avalanche 

danger. The victim—a visitor from Houston, Texas—and his local friend decided to go snowshoeing in Empire 

Canyon, which is a popular area to walk dogs or get some other exercise and it’s just on the outskirts of Park City, 

down at an elevation of 7,600’ in a backcountry area between the ski runs of Park City and Deer Valley resorts. 

On their way home towards the end of the day, they descended a narrow, small, wooded, side gully next to one of 

the mine buildings and they triggered a very small avalanche about a foot deep and 70 feet wide, which descended 

about 60 vertical feet into the gully where they walked. Neither wore beacons or shovels. The victim’s friend 

looked for him in vain and local residents from a few hundred yards down the canyon responded with probe poles 

and quickly found the victim buried about four feet deep. He did not respond to CPR. 

 Interestingly enough, when UAC Director, Bruce Tremper visited the scene six days later to take photographs, while he was investigating the accident site, snowboarders triggered a larger slide less than 100 yards away 

from the original slide. Apparently, no one was injured but they had to dig out some buried equipment at the bottom. 

 All of the fatalities and nearly all the close calls this season involved people not wearing avalanche rescue 

gear and most were relatively inexperienced and did not know much about avalanches. All four fatalities occurred 

during obviously dangerous conditions. As far as we know, none of them had called or read the avalanche bulletin 

before they went out nor did they hear the avalanche warnings on NOAA weather radio or other media outlets. 

We continue to struggle with how to reach the public who has no avalanche education or who normally do not 

consult the avalanche advisory before heading out, but we have come up with no better solutions that would fit 

within the constraints of our small budget. During the 2002-03 season in Canada, an inexperienced group of 

young adults walked into an obviously dangerous situation in which caught 17 skiers and killing seven of them. 

Since then, the Canadians have been spending considerable resources to find better ways of communicating avalanche information to relatively inexperienced users, and perhaps we can benefit from their recommendations and 

technical solutions. 

 Nationally, it was a less-than-average year as well with only 21 avalanche fatalities, which is below the recent average of 25 and much less than the 2002 season, in which 35 people were killed in the U.S. Looking at 

world statistics, the United States ranks third, just behind Austria and France. 

Rescuers found one victim on the second day and spent a number of days looking for the remaining two bodies in vain. The debris was well over 10 feet deep and 

covered an area the size of 11 football fields. It was so deep that even the avalanche rescue dogs could not detect a scent. 
Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center Annual Report 2003-04 

20 

An overview of the Aspen Grove—Elk Point avalanche fatalities in which three snowboarders were killed on the day after Christmas. There was 14 

people playing on the slope at the time. Five snowboarders were up high in the narrow part of the avalanche track, two more skiers were near 

them but tucked in beneath a cliff, two others were on the viewer’s left of the runout who barely escaped and a family of four was at the bottom 

and was hit by the air blast of the avalanche but not buried. The five snowboarders were scattered all over the apron as the avalanche spread out 

at the bottom, and three completely buried, which created a huge 11 acre area to probe. You can barely see some of the rescuers in a horizontal 

line on the apron. 
Annual Report 2003-04 Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center

21 

The site of an avalanche fatality on 2-26-04. This area is on the outskirts of Park City in Empire Canyon. The 

snowshoers triggered a very small avalanche on the right as they descended a small gully near the end of the day. 

Another close call came just six days later as some snowboarders triggered another avalanche just 50 yards from 

The site of a skier triggered avalanche near Desolation Lake. The skier was partially buried but otherwise OK. 
Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center Annual Report 2003-04 

22 

Date Region Location Details Triggered Caught

Partially 

Buried

Totally 

Buried Injured Killed

1

11/11/2003 Ogden Snowbasin Triggered a small slide on surface hoar

11/12/2003 Logan Logan Peak

Snowmobiler completely buried 2-3 feet 

deep, no beacon but found by partners, OK. 

Very close call. 1 1 1

11/12/2003 SLC Caribou Basin BCC Skier Triggered 1

11/13/2003 PV Robert's Horn

Triggered as skiers ascended this gentle 

slope, one caught 1 1

11/13/2003 SLC E. Bowl of Silver Fk.

Skier caught and carried on very gentle 

slope - ended up mostly on surface. Lost 

pole. 1 1

11/13/2003 SLC E. Bowl of Silver Fk.

Skier triggered and caught on a very gentle 

slope 1 1

11/14/2003 PC McKonkies Bowl 1 1 1

11/14/2003 PC Sunrise Bowl

Triggered by backcountry skiers. Skied off 

of slab. 1 1

11/14/2003 PC East McKonkies Bowl

Triggered by backcountry skiers. Skied off 

of slab. 1 1

11/14/2003 SLC Alta

Triggered by backcountry skier - Alta not 

open for season and not doing avalanche 

control 1

11/15/2003 SLC Hidden Canyon Triggered by backcountry skiers. 1

11/15/2003 SLC Sunset Pk Triggered by a backcountry skier. 1

11/18/203 Uintas Hoyt's Peak

Wind slab triggered by snowmobiler who 

was able to ride out of the slide 1 1

12/16/2003 SLC Toledo Chute

Skier triggered avalanche, not caught - 

presumed unintentional. 1

12/24/2003 SLC Day's Fork

Skier triggered but skied out of it. Not 

caught. Recent wind slab sliding on old 

snow 1

12/26/2003 Provo

Aspen Grove area - 

Elk Point

6 caught, 3 snowboarders without 

becons were killed by natural avalanche 

during a large snow storm while playing 

in the outrun of a very large avalanche 

path. 6 3 3 3

12/27/2003 Uintas Ray's Area Possible remote trigger by skier. 1

12/31/2003 SLC

Figure 8 Hill, upper 

BCC New wind slab. Caught, but got out to side. 1

1/1/2004 Ogden Foothills

Snowboarder triggered avalanche in the 

foothills above North Ogden. They rode the 

blocks for a short distance and were able to 

stop on bed surface. Recent wind slab 1 1

1/3/2004 Uintas 1000 peaks

Cutting roads with a snow cat got three 

remote triggers breaking to ground with big 

dust cloud. 1

1/7/2004 Provo Primrose Cirque

Skier jumped on test slope that was too 

large, was caught and buried to waist. 1 1 1

1/7/2004 SLC Flagstaff Pk

Skier triggerd, caught, carried 100' and 

buried to knees. Parter waited to side 1 1

1/8/2004 SLC Mary Ellen Gulch 1

1/9/2004 SLC Patsy Marley 1

1/12/2004 Logan Double Top Small snowmobiler triggered avalanche. 1

2/5/2004 SLC Desolation Lake area Skier caught, carried, partially buried. 1 1 1

Incidents and Accidents 2003-04

This list includes only unintentional human triggered avalanches in the backcountry.
Annual Report 2003-04 Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center

23 

2/6/2004 SLC Cardiff

Skier kicked out very soft slab in lower 

breakover 1

2/6/2004 SLC Cardiff

Skier kicked out very soft slab in upper

chutes 1

2/10/2004 SLC

Gobblers Knob SE 

Ridge into Bulter Caught and carried person - no injury 1 1

2/13/2004

Park 

City No-no name bowl 1

2/14/2004 Provo Mill Canyon Peak triggered by ski cut 1

2/14/2004 Provo UFO Bowl remotely triggered from above 1

2/14/2004

Park 

City No-no name bowl remotely triggered from side 1

2/22/2004 SLC Broads Fork

Triggered remotely on an uptrack, a few 

steps after getting a collapse 1

2/26/2004 Uintas 1000 Peaks area Skier caught, lost ski. 1 1

2/26/2004

Park 

City

Empire Canyon (Daily 

Canyon)

Snowshoer fatality, 4 foot burial without 

beacon in low elevation gully near town. 1 1 1 1

2/27/2004 Ogden

Snowbasin 

backcountry - 

Coldwater Canyon Triggered by backcountry skier 1

2/27/2004 Logan

UAC observer remotely triggered slide - not 

caught. 1

2/27/2004 SLC Brighton backcountry

Anonymous caller triggered and was buried 

to his shoulders in a slide in the "Brighton 

backcountry". Call came in 24 hours after 

incident. 1

2/28/2004 SLC

USA Bowl - Scotts 

Peak area Skier caught and carried. 1 1

2/29/2004

Park 

City Top of Summit Park 1

2/29/2004 SLC Renolds Peak Skier triggered 1

2/29/2004 SLC Lamb's Canyon Remotely triggered 1

3/2/2004 Uintas Smith/Morehouse Skier triggered, got out to side 1 1

3/2/2004 SLC

Birthday Chutes - 

White Pine Skier triggered, caught but skied out. 1 1

3/2/2004 SLC Argenta - Kessler Pk Skier triggered, caught, but arrested on bed 1 1

3/3/2004

Park 

City Daly Canyon

Human triggered slide 100 yards away from 

the fatality on 2-26-04. Very close call. 1

3/5/2004 SLC Above LCC road

Skiers remotely triggered from 50 feet away 

when looking at a controlled slide in same 

area. 1

3/5/2004 SLC Little Superior Buttress Skier triggered but not caught. 1

3/5/2004 SLC Little Superior Buttress

Skier triggered, caught, carried, lost some 

gear but OK. 1 1

3/6/2004 SLC Big Water Skier triggered 1

3/6/2004 SLC Tom's Hill Skier caught and carried. 1 1

3/6/2004 Ogden Farmington canyon Falling skier triggered it from lower angled 1

3/7/2004 SLC Toledo Chute 1

3/7/2004 SLC No Name Bowl 1

3/8/2004 SLC PC Ridgeline - 9990

Released on ski cut. Caught and carried 

skier. No injury. 1 1

3/13/2004 SLC Near Desolation Lake Skier caught and carried 1 1

3/28/2004 SLC Toledo Chute 1

4/21/2004 SLC

High Rusler (Alta 

closed for season)

Skier triggered, 4 feet of debris on 

corkscrew road, skier OK. 1 1

4/21/2004 SLC

Figure 8 Hill, near 

Brighton

Broke above skier on 4th turn. Got out to 

side and OK 1 1

4/20/2004 SLC Baldy Chute

Triggered sympathetically from side, skier 

OK 1

Total 59 31 6 5 4
Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center Annual Report 2003-04 

24 

 

Utah had a very stable season with only 59 unintentional human triggered avalanches in the backcountry. Despite this, we had four 

avalanche fatalities, which occurred during times of unusually high avalanche danger during storms. 

Avalanche Fatalities in Utah 1951-2004

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

195119521953195419551956195719581959196019611962196319641965196619671968196919701971197219731974197519761977197819791980198119821983198419851986198719881989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004

Winter

Number of Fatalities

5-Year Moving Average

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Number

1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Year

Unintentional Human Triggered Avalanches in the Backcountry
Annual Report 2003-04 Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center

25 

Date Deaths Sex Location Activity Skier Climber

Snow

boarder

Snow

mobiler

Other 

Recreation 

(snowshoe, 

hiker, hunter) Worker Resident

9-Mar-58 2 Males Snowbasin Rescuer 2

29-Mar-64 1 Male Snowbasin Worker 1

31-Dec-65 1 Male Park City In-bounds skier 1

12-Feb-67 2 Males Pharoah’s Glen Climbers 2

19-Feb-68 1 Male Rock Canyon Hiker 1

29-Jan-70 1 Male Alta In-bounds skier 1

29-Jan-73 1 Male Park West In-bounds skier 1

6-Jan-76 1 Male Alta Out of bounds skier 1

3-Mar-77 1 Male Snowbird In-bounds skier 1

19-Jan-79 1 Male Helper Worker 1

2-Apr-79 1 Male Lake Desolation Backcountry skier 1

11-Jan-80 1 Male Evergreen Ridge Out of bounds skier 1

1-Feb-81 1 Male Cardiff Hiker 1

1-Mar-81 1 Male Millcreek Backcountry skier 1

22-Mar-82 1 Male near Park West Backcountry skier 1

2-Jan-84 1 Male Superior Peak Backcountry skier 1

22-Feb-85 1 Male Near Powder Mountain Backcountry skier 1

19-Mar-85 1 Female Park City In-bounds wet slide 1

13-Nov-85 2 Males Sunset Peak Backcountry skiers 2

6-Jan-86 1 Male Provo Canyon Backcountry skier 1

17-Feb-86 1 Male Big Cottonwood Canyon Backcountry snowboarder 1

19-Feb-86 1 Male Alta In bounds skier 1

20-Nov-86 1 Male Sugarloaf, Alta Hiker in unopened area 1

15-Feb-87 1 Male Twin Lakes Reservoir Backcountry skier 1

25-Nov-89 1 Male Tony Grove Lake, Logan Backcountry skier 1

12-Feb-92 4 3-M/1-F Gold Basin, La Sal Mtns Backcountry vskiers 4

1-Apr-92 1 Male Mineral Basin, near Snowbird Backcountry skier 1

16-Jan-93 1 Male Sundance (closed area) Backcountry skier 1

25-Feb-93 1 Male Pinecrest, Emig. Cyn. Backcountry skier 1

3-Apr-93 1 Male Wolverine Cirque Backcountry skier 1

18-Feb-94 1 Male 10,420 Peak, B.C.C. Backcountry skier 1

7-Nov-94 1 Male Snowbird (pre-season) Backcountry skier 1

14-Jan-95 2 Males Ben Lomond, near Ogden Snowmobilers 2

23-Jan-95 1 Male Midway Resident killed in roof slide 1

12-Feb-95 1 Male Gobbler’s Knob, B.C.C. Backcountry skier 1

2-Feb-96 1 Male Solitude patroller Worker 1

27-Mar-96 1 Male Maybird Gulch, L.C.C. Backcountry skier 1

7-Dec-96 1 Male Bountiful Peak Snowmobiler 1

26-Dec-96 1 Male Flagstaff Peak Backcountry snowboarder 1

11-Jan-97 3 Males Logan Peak Three campers 3

25-Jan-97 1 Male Provo Canyon Climber 1

17-Jan-98 1 Male Near Coleville Snowmobiler 1

18-Jan-98 1 Male Sanpete County Snowmobiler 1

26-Feb-98 1 Male Near Weber State hiker (possible suicide) 1

7-Nov-98 1 Male Snowbird (pre-season) Snowboarder 1

2-Jan-99 2 Males Wasatch Plateau Snowboarders 2

29-Jan-99 1 Male Mt. Nebo Snowmobiler 1

6-Feb-99 1 Male Little Willow Canyon Hiker 1

11-Jan-00 2 M/F Squaretop Out of bounds Skiers 2

14-Dec-01 1 Male Willard Basin Snowmobiler 1

27-Feb-01 1 Female Near Canyons Resort Out of bounds Skier 1

10-Mar-01 2 Males Uinta Mtns near Oakly Snowmobiler 2

28-Apr-01 2 Males Stairs Gulch, BCC Climbers 2

31-Jan-02 1 Male Windy Ridge, Uinta Mtns. Backcountry Skier 1

16-Mar-02 2 Males Pioneer Ridge near Brighton Out of bounds Snowboarders 2

15-Feb-03 1 Male Gobbler’s Knob, B.C.C. Skier 1

26-Dec-04 3 Males Aspen Grove, Timpanogos Snowboarders 3

26-Feb-04 1 Male Empire Canyon - Park City Snowshoer 1

Total 74 1958 season - Present 35 5 10 9 9 5 1

Past 10 seasons 9 3 9 9 6 1 1

Shaded areas indicate greatest concentration of fatalities. Past 5 seasons 5 2 7 4 2 0 0

 66 Males (94%), 4 Females (6%)

Avalanche Fatalities in Utah 1958-2004 - By Activity
Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center Annual Report 2003-04 

26 

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

 Average Number of Incidents per year

Triggered Caught Partly Buried Totally Buried Killed

Avalanche Incidents in Utah 1985-2004

Utah Deaths by Natural Hazard

1994 - 2004

Lightning

28%

Flash Floods

8%

Avalanches

64%
Annual Report 2003-04 Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center

27 

U.S. Avalanche Fatalities by State 1994-2004

(N = 278)

CO

23%

AK

23%

MT

14%

UT

13%

WA

8%

ID

7%

WY

9%

CA

3%

U.S. Avalanche Fatalities 1950-2004

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

1953195419551956195719581959196019611962196319641965196619671968196919701971197219731974197519761977197819791980198119821983198419851986198719881989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004

Winter

Number of Fatalities

5-Year Moving Average 
Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center Annual Report 2003-04 

28 

U.S. Avalanche Fatalities by Activity

Past 5 Seasons - Ending 2004

134 Total Fatalities

Snowboarders

10%

Misc Recreation

8%

Climbers

7%

Others at Work

1%

Skiers

28%

Residents

2%

Motorists/Highway 

workers

1%

Snowmobilers

43%

Patrollers

0%

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Average Number of Fatalities per Year

Austria France U.S.A. Switzerland Italy Canada Norway Slovokia

World Avalanche Fatalities 1999-2003
Annual Report 2003-04 Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center

29 

Avalanche Education 

We feel that avalanche education is an essential part of staying alive in avalanche terrain. It not only gives people 

the basics of avalanche knowledge, but it helps create and maintain an avalanche culture, where people learn from 

their peers. We teach many free avalanche awareness classes throughout the season, partially to give people the 

basics of how to stay alive, but also to inspire them to take a more detailed, multi-day avalanche class from the 

private sector. This season we taught 37 avalanche classes and directly reached over 1,700 people. 

 In addition, we also had a very successful Avalanche Awareness Week, with a signing ceremony with 

Olene Walker, Utah’s Governor, plus she was the featured speaker for a fundraiser at Snowbird put on by the 

Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center. Avalanche awareness week consisted of a media blitz and several classes 

offered both indoor and in the field. Many thanks to Roger Kehr for organizing the event. 

 We are also working on a traveling avalanche awareness program for young adults that can be taught as a 

turnkey operation in public schools and youth groups. 

 Finally, during the summer of 2004, we plan to develop an avalanche education program for young adults 

that would be taught in Utah schools and youth groups. Funding for this project will be provided primarily by Utah 

State Parks. Other partners include: The Backcountry Store, Recreation Equipment Inc., and other partners yet to 

be determined. The project is being contracted through Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center and we will give a 

more detailed report as the project takes shape. 

Utah Governor Olene Walker signs the declaration for Avalanche Awareness Week and hands it to Bruce Tremper, Forest Service 

Utah Avalanche Center Director. FSUAC forecaster Craig Gordon is on the left. On the right, stands Peter Donner (Friends of the 

Utah Avalanche Center) and Dave Fields (Snowbird public relations Director). 
Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center Annual Report 2003-04 

30 

Date Staff Event No. people

10/26-31/2003 Lees/Tremper National Avalanche School, Phase I, Reno 200

11/1/03 Gordon Avalanche Awareness - Utah Snow Show 40

11/14/03 Gordon USFS Blasters School 150

11/16/03 Hardesty Level II, AIARE 5

11/21/03 Gordon Avalanche Awareness - Butters Tractor 150

11/21/03 Hardesty Sundance ski patrol - avalanche refresher 20

11/22/03 Weed Avalanche Awareness - Cache Co Search and Rescue 50

12/1/03 Hardesty Ski with a Ranger 45

12/2/03 Lees ACE womens beacon clinic 20

12/2/03 Lees/Tremper Avalanche Awareness - REI 120

12/2/03 Weed Avalanche Awareness - Escape Outdoors 10

12/6/03 Tremper Kirkhams avalanche awareness talk 60

12/6/03 Gordon Avalanche Awareness - Honda/Suzuki 15

12/9/03 Hardesty/McLean Avalanche Awareness - Black Diamond 40

12/9/03 Weed Avalanche Awareness - Escape Outdoors 30

12/10/03 Tremper Wasatch Mountain Club 80

12/10/03 McLean/Tremper Avalanche Awareness - REI 80

12/12/03 Lees/Kobernik Avalanche Awareness - Sandy REI 50

12/12/03 Weed Avalanche Awareness - Magic Mountain Sports 40

12/16/03 Tremper Salt Lake District Office 16

1/7/04 Gordon Avalanche Awareness - Rocky Mountain Sports 30

1/7/04 Weed Avalanche Awareness - Stokes Nature Center 30

1/15/04 Tremper Day-long avalanche class, Elko Nevada 60

1/21/04 Tremper Avalanche History of Alta 30

1/22/04 Hardesty Avalanche Awareness - SL Rotary Club 20

1/22/04 Weed 2-day intro - Outdoor Recreation Center USU campus 16

1/22/04 Weed Field day - Outdoor Recreation Center USU campus 15

1/24/04 Gordon/Tremper Backcountry Awareness, Snowbird 60

2/11/04 McLean Avalanche Awareness, Park City Newcombers 30

2/19/04 McLean Avalanche Awareness, Park City Rotary Club 30

2/24/04 Tremper Science of Avalanches - REI 80

2/25/04 Gordon Avalanche Awareness - Draper Police Dept. 6

2/25/04 Gordon Avalanche Awareness, UVSC 10

1/28/04 Grodon Avalanche Awareness, UVSC 25

1/17/04 Lees/Tremper Level I Avalanche Class, Brighton 30

2/10-12/04 Gordon/Tremper National Avalanche School, Phase II, Snowbird 35

2/14-16/04 Hardesty, McLean Level I Avalanche Class, Brighton 30

2/27-29/04 McLean Level I Avalanche Class, Alaska 30

38 Talks 1758

UAC Avalanche Education 2003-04
Annual Report 2003-04 Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center

31 

Media Contacts 

 Media contacts were a little less than usual because of a fairly stable season and less than average avalanche fatalities nationwide. Nevertheless, our staff was interviewed by three national television programs including an interview by Anderson Coulter on CNN, the NBC Nightly Evening News, A documentary on avalanches 

filmed last season and it aired this winter on the History Channel and National Geographic re-aired an avalanche 

documentary filmed several years ago. 

 In addition, we were interviewed by several national magazines including Outside, National Geographic 

Adventure and Reader’s Digest Magazine. We also were interviewed by three local radio programs and eleven 

newspaper articles. 

 Craig Gordon wrote a monthly avalanche article for Snow Scoop Magazine, a snowmobile publication. 

Avalanches don’t happen just in the mountains. Appropriately enough, we noticed these “glide cracks” in City Creek near the State 

Capitol Building after a ceremony with Utah’s Governor, Olene Walker in which she signed the declaration for Avalanche Awareness 

Week. Glide cracks form when the entire snowpack slides slowly on the ground underneath when lubricated with melt water. With the 

copious low elevation snow this season, low elevation avalanche potential was a concern. Glide cracks like these can release catastrophically, causing an avalanches. This is a good example that avalanches are important to all people in Utah. 
Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center Annual Report 2003-04 

32 

Date Staff Agency Subject

National or 

International 

Television 

Interview

National or 

International 

Television 

Information

National 

or International 

Print 

Media

Local 

Television 

Interviews

National 

Radio 

Interviews

Local 

Radio 

Interviews

Local Print 

Interviews

1-Jul-03 Tremper

Book: In the Path of the 

Avalanche Review book for accuracy 1

10-Sep-03 Tremper Owl Magazine Interview and reviewed content 1

19-Sep-03 Tremper Park City Record Interview about fund raising party 1

22-Sep-03 Tremper

National Geographic 

Adventure Magazine Interview about avalanche centers 1

10-Oct-03 Tremper Reader's Digest

Review story for avalanche 

accuracy 1

23-Oct-03 Tremper Arctic Cat

Interview for article about 

avalanches 1

30-Oct-03 Tremper Outside Magazine

Interview about avalanche 

information 1

17-Nov-03 Tremper Channel 4 Interview about conditions 1

18-Nov-03 Tremper National Geographic TV Re-airing interview of Tremper 1

18-Dec-03 Gordon Salt Lake Tribune Forecasting for Uinta Mountains 1

19-Dec-03 Gordon Channel 2 News Forecasting for Uinta Mountains 1

26-Dec-03 Gordon Park City Record Avalanche Conditions 1

27-Dec-03 Hardesty CNN Avalanche Fatality 1

29-Dec-03 Tremper CNN - Anderson Coulter

Live interview about avalanche 

conditions 1

29-Dec-03 Tremper Salt Lake Tribune Interview about snowboarders 1

29-Dec-03 Lees KCPW Radio Interview about avalanches 1

29-Dec-03 Lees Colorado newspaper Interview about avalanches 1

31-Dec-03 Lees Hearald Journal - Logan Interview about avalanches 1

3-Jan-04 Gordon Channel 5 TV

Interveiw on snowmobile avalanche 

forecasts 1

4-Jan-04 Gordon Channel 5 TV

Interview about snowmobile 

avalanche forecasts 1

5-Jan-04 Tremper National Geographic TV

Interview about avalanche 

information 1

6-Jan-04 Hardesty Public Radio International Interview about avalanches 1

7-Jan-04 Lees NBC Nightly News Interview about avalanches 1

9-Jan-04 Gordon Channel 5 TV Snowmobile avalanche forecasts 1

12-Jan-04 Tremper Channel 5 TV Live interview about avalanches 1

12-Jan-04 Tremper Channel 2

Interview about Avalanche 

Awareness Week 1

12-Jan-04 Tremper Channel 4

Interview about Avalanche 

Awareness Week 1

12-Jan-04 Tremper Channel 5 

Interview about Avalanche 

Awareness Week 1

12-Jan-04 Hardesty Daily Universe - BYU Interview about avalanches 1

13-Jan-04 Tremper

Central Washington 

newspaper Avalanche information 1

14-Jan-04 Tremper Ski Magazine Interview about avalanches 1

15-Jan-04 Tremper Pitsburg Post Gazette Interview about avalanches 1

15-Jan-04 Tremper Freelance writer Interview about avalanches 1

29-Jan-04 Gordon Channel 5

Interview about snowmobile 

avalanche safety 1

19-Feb-04 Tremper Provo Daily Universe Interview about avalanches 1

26-Feb-04 Tremper Deseret News Interview about fatality 1

27-Feb-04 Tremper Channel 13 News Interview about fatality 1

27-Feb-04 Tremper KSL Radio Interview about fatality 1

6-Mar-04 Gordon Channel 5

Interview about snowmobile 

avalanche safety 1

12-Mar-04 Tremper KPCW Radio

30 minute interview about 

avalanches 1

20-Mar-04 Lees Channel 13 TV Interview about avalanches 1

Totals 3 2 9 12 1 3 11

Total Contacts 41

UAC Media Contacts 2002-03 
Annual Report 2003-04 Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center

33 

Budget 

 The Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center is the epitome of a strong partnership organization. Funding 

comes from a diverse source. In addition to the base funding from the Wasatch-Cache National Forest, Utah 

State Parks actually contributes more funds than any other partner. For the past several years, all the funding from 

Utah State Parks came through grants, either a National Recreation Trails Program or a State motorized grant. 

Funds were used primarily to forecast for areas used primarily by snowmobilers and for snowmobile avalanche 

education. This season, the grant funds were skimpy, so Utah State Parks generously made up the difference out 

of their own budget to the tune of $85,000. $15,000 of that money goes to the Manti- La Sal National Forest for 

forecasting in Moab and the Manti-Skyline area. Many thanks to Fred Hayes and our other supporters at Utah 

State Parks and the Utah Snowmobile Association. 

 In addition, the State of Utah Division of Comprehensive Emergency Management contributes $25,000 

per year, Salt Lake County contributes $20,000 and last but not least, the Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center is 

a private, non-profit fundraising organization which supports avalanche forecasting and avalanche education in Utah. 

Each season, they raise around $40,000. Part of that money is donated to the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center for salaries, but most of the funds are spent outside the Forest Service for contract observers, education and 

equipment. 

 

Note: Staff salary and benefits is spread between six people, most of which work six months per year and the Director works eight months per 

year. Utah State Parks contributes a total of $85,000 but $15,000 of that money goes to the Manti-La Sal National Forest for avalanche forecasting and education in the La Sal Mountains and for the Manti-Skyline area.. Finally, as noted above, the Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center 

donate $15,000 to the Forest Service for salaries, but they spend an additional $35,000 per year on their own to hire contract observers, avalanche education projects and for equipment. These expenses are not itemized here. 

$158,654 $70,000

$2,000 FS base operating funds $36,500

$2,000 State of Utah $25,000

$3,000 Salt Lake County $20,000

$2,000 Friends of UAC $15,000

$1,000

Total $168,654 Total $166,500

Printing

Equipment and Supplies

Training

Travel 

Utah State Parks

Expenditures Revenues

Telephones

Staff Salary and Benefits
Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center Annual Report 2003-04 

34 

Utah Avalanche Center Revenues - 

Wasatch-Cache and Uinta National Forests

Utah State Parks, $70,000

FS base operating funds, 

$36,500

State of Utah, $25,000

Salt Lake County, $20,000

Friends of UAC, $15,000

Utah Avalanche Center Expenditures - 

Wasatch-Cache and Uinta National Forests

Staff Salary and Benefits, 

$158,654

Telephones, $2,000

Equipment and Supplies, 

$2,000

Travel , $3,000

Training, $2,000

Printing, $1,000
Annual Report 2003-04 Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center

35 

Wasatch Cache National Forest

In partnership with: The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center, Utah Department of Public Safety Division of Comprehensive 

Emergency Management, Salt Lake County, and Utah State Parks 

: http://www.avalanche.org/~uac/

To have this advisory automatically e-mailed to you each day free of charge, click HERE. 

AVALANCHE ADVISORY 

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2003 7:30 AM 

Good morning, this is Andrew McLean with the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center with your backcountry avalanche and mountain 

weather advisory. Today 1s Friday, December 26th, 2003, and it’s 7:30 a.m. 

Current Conditions: 

We had a slight lull in our storm system yesterday, and then it returned with a vengeance to deliver current storm totals of 28” in Little 

Cottonwood, 29” in Big Cottonwood, 24” in the Ogden area mountains and 22” in the Provo area mountains. And it’s far from over – another 10-14” are expected by the end of today. So far, this has been a fairly warm storm system, with temperatures in the mid to high 20’s, 

which has produced moderate density snow in the 8-11% range, that makes for slow trail breaking, plush turning and riding conditions and a 

deep base. With all of this new snow, the trick for today will be finding slopes that are steep enough to move on, yet not so steep they will 

avalanche. 

Avalanche Conditions: 

Although we might be in the Christmas season, the snowpack is pure Halloween. There is wide spread natural avalanche activity being 

reported from the resorts, with large sluffs and soft slabs running full track and ending in deep debris piles. With 2.5” of water weight being 

deposited in the last 48 hours we have added a huge new load to the snowpack. Underneath all of this, there are a series of slabs and potential weak layers stacked up, and with this sudden increase in loading, there is a good chance that shallower avalanches in the new snow could 

step down into deeper layers and trigger large avalanches. With the ridgetop winds yesterday, sensitive cornices are forming with wind 

loaded pillows beneath them. These recent deposits of wind drifted snow will be very sensitive to a person’s weight. 

Today, expect to easily trigger avalanches anywhere from small powder sluffs to deep soft slab avalanches especially in wind affected areas. 

Until the storm abates, it will be a good idea to stick to sheltered, mid elevation areas with slope angles of less than 35 degrees and avoid 

avalanche run-out zones. 

Bottom Line (Salt Lake and Park City, Provo, and Ogden mountains): 

With natural and human triggered avalanches already occurring, there is a HIGH danger today on any slope steeper than 35 degrees. In 

wind sheltered areas with slopes less steep than 35 degrees, there is a CONSIDERABLE danger, with human trigger avalanches probable. 

People without good avalanche skills should avoid the backcountry today. 

Uinta Mountains: A specific advisory for the Uinta mountains is being issued today. Click on western Uintas on the advisory page or 

phone 1-800-648-7433. 

Mountain Weather: 

Today the storm will intensify as a cold trough moves over the area and brings a heavy snow warning with another 10-14” of new snow 

expected at 8,000’. As of 6:00am, the 8,000’ temperature is 18 degrees with a 10mph wind coming out of the SW. The moderate winds will 

shift from the SW to the NW with occasional strong gusts and a chance of lightning. We can expect a slight reprieve in the snowfall intenExample of an Avalanche Advisory 
Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center Annual Report 2003-04 

36 

sity at sunrise, only to have it kick back in as the storm shifts to a NW flow and temperatures drop into the lower teens by mid morning. 24 

hour storm totals for today are expected to be in the 16-23” range, with heavy snowfall throughout the day and into this evening. The 

storm will most likely shift to the east on Saturday, with the next one following it in from the Pacific on Monday. 

 

For specific digital forecasts for selected mountain areas from the National Weather Service, click the links below or choose your own specific location at the National Weather Service Digital Forecast Page. 

General Information: 

The Wasatch Powderbird Guides will not fly today because of weather. 

If you are getting into the backcountry, please give us a call and let us know what you’re seeing, especially if you trigger an avalanche. You 

can leave a message at 524-5304 or 1-800-662-4140. Or you can e-mail an observation to uac@avalanche .org, or you can fax an observation to 801-524-6301. 

The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center is offering two 3-day avalanche workshops which are being held January 17-19 and February 14-

16. Information and sign-up sheets are available at the Black Diamond store (2092 E. 3900 S.; 278-0233). 

The information in this advisory is from the U.S. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general 

avalanche conditions and local variations always occur. 

Drew Hardesty will update this advisory on Saturday morning. 

Thanks for calling. 

_____________________________________________________________________________

For more detailed weather information go to our Mountain Weather Advisory 

National Weather Service - Salt Lake City - Snow. 

For an explanation of avalanche danger ratings: 

http://www.avalanche.org/usdanger.htm

 

3-Day Table 3-Day Graph 7-Day Table 

Ogden Mountains Ogden Mountains Ogden Mountains

SLC Mountains SLC Mountains SLC Mountains

Provo Mountains Provo Mountains Provo Mountains