Avalanches scare me.  This hasn’t always been the case, but last season Dug gave me a brief avy 101 course that made me see the light (Rick does that mean I need a sheep patch for my ski jacket?).  I have had good friends live and unfortunately die from being caught in slides but this still didn’t freak me out.  My attitude 5 years ago was let’s go snowmobiling and see who can set off the biggest slide.  We literally would find the nastiest cornice and try to get it to break. We were successful more times than not.

Fast forward to today.  I am extremely skittish when it comes to an avalanche. I get the daily avy report from the Utah Avalanche Center, and know RED is warning, Orange is bad, yellow requires caution.  Check out today’s report.

Avy Savvy

The avalanche danger is HIGH on and below mid and upper elevation slopes, especially those facing west through north through east and southeast. Human triggered avalanche are likely on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees, and slides can be triggered remotely from a distance, so avoid travel adjacent to and below steep avalanche paths. As the winds pick up this afternoon and this evening, a natural avalanche cycle could occur again. Only those people with excellent avalanche skills and experience should travel in the backcountry, and travel should be on gentle slopes and ridge lines well away from avalanche paths.

This is the reason I have been a complete sloth for the past 2 weeks.  I love the snow, but will wait for more yellow on the report before I cut those first tracks.   Saturday I will be beacon training at Snowbasin, so if something ever does slide I can pull my buddies out.