SALT LAKE CITY — Avalanche forecasters said there is a high avalanche risk in the northern mountains of Utah on Wednesday. Crews worked on Little Cottonwood Canyon Wednesday morning on avalanche mitigation efforts, which help increase safety in the mountains.

Craig Gordon, an avalanche forecaster with the Utah Avalanche Center, told Utah’s Morning News that Wednesday’s risk is a four out of five. This means that human-caused avalanches and natural avalanches are both likely to occur.

Logan, Ogden and the western Uintas had the highest level of danger for the day, according to Gordon. The UAC also lists Salt Lake, Provo and Moab canyons as high risk.

The risk comes from the dense snow that recently fell on a weaker layer.

“The snowpack right now is just teetering on the edge.”

Gordon advised anyone wanting to recreate to “stay off of and out from under steep wind drifted slopes that are steeper than about 30 degrees.”

But recreators can still go out in the snow.

Little Cottonwood Canyon just finished an avalanche mitigation effort Wednesday morning.

🚧 #RoadClosureUpdate 🚧 @UDOTAvy avalanche mitigation complete. #SR210 is OPEN to all traffic. Thanks for your patience this AM!

Expect slush and road snow throughout canyon. Traction devices are REQUIRED!@UDOTTRAFFIC @UtahDOT @AltaCentral @AltaAlerts @SnowbirdAlerts pic.twitter.com/2GfDkZQiqd

— UDOT Cottonwood Canyons (@UDOTcottonwoods) December 28, 2022

And for those wanting to go snowshoe or snowmobile somewhere that hasn’t had avalanche mitigation, Gordon advised avoiding “low angle slopes with no steep terrain above.”

Related: 

• What you need to know about avalanche safety in Utah

• How do forecasters determine avalanche risk?

• Utah avalanche danger: What causes an avalanche?

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