It’s awesome when the outdoor community comes together for a common cause, just as Backcountry.com did this week to help keep the Utah Avalanche Center running until the end of April because of their very generous $6,300 donation.
The UAC generally ceases operations at the beginning of April due to a lack of funding. But this year, April has dumped six feet of snow on the Wasatch Mountains so far, where a potentially dangerous winter snowpack still exists. As a result, Backcountry.com decided to take action and help keep backountry skiers and snowboarders safe by getting out their monetary defibrillator and shocking the UAC back to life.
Backcountry skiers in Utah rely on the Utah Avalanche Center’s daily avalanche forecasts. But on April 3, the UAC announced that they reached the end of their funding and were closed for the season. We all got a sick feeling in our stomachs after logging into the UAC’s website expecting to see the forecast but instead got nothing. So what did we do? We skied the backcountry anyway, uneducated about the morning’s snowpack conditions.
But thanks to Backcountry.com’s donation to the Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center, those forecasts will keep going until April 24. All backcountry skiers and snowboarders rejoice!
According to a press release, Backcountry.com’s Chief Marketing Officer, Dustin Roberston said that we skiers, “need the UAC” because “there’s too much snow in the Wasatch and there are too many people still in the backcountry. We made a call to find out what it would take to get them to stay open. It was within our power to make it happen, so we’re going to make it happen.”
According to the Utah Avalanche Center, their forecasts will be a combination of early morning weekend forecasts and mid-week afternoon updates, with weekend only updates for the Logan and Uinta area mountains.
“For Backcountry.com to step-up like this is truly amazing and we couldn’t have done it without them. They have been one of our biggest supporters for years and are a key part of the backcountry community,” said FUAC Executive Director Paul Diegel. “We are headed into a big storm cycle, we’re still dealing with a complicated snowpack, and this is going to be a huge benefit for the backcountry user community. It’s still full-on winter here.”
The UAC is funded by a number of separate entities: the U.S. Forest Service, the non-profit FUAC – who this year has raised $270,000 through fundraisers, donations, grants and education programs – Utah Division of State Parks and Recreation, Utah Department of Public Safety and Salt Lake County. This year, the budget came up short because of a combination of above average early season snowfall, increased costs and decreases in other funding sources. The UAC had to choose between termination of forecasts for an existing area in Utah and closing early. They felt that they could provide the best public service by choosing the latter.
The Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center was founded in 1980 to provide public safety in avalanche terrain through avalanche advisories, avalanche warnings when necessary, avalanche education and outreach. Founded in 1991, the FUAC supports and contributes to the avalanche education and forecasting activities provided by the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center. Together, they operate as a very successful partnership called the UAC.
So be sure to get into the habit of checking the avalanche forecast again before heading into the backcountry.