With all the light holiday powder around, it didn't take much wind to build shallow wind slabs on the lee side of major ridges and in and around terrain features like cliff bands, sub-ridges, gullies, and scoops. In some areas, stiffer wind slabs formed on steep exposed slopes. These may be stubborn and could allow you to get out on them before releasing.. Wind slabs could be found in some rather atypical places today. Avoid stiff wind drifts on steep slopes. These often appear smooth or rounded and chalky looking, and they sometimes sound rather hollow. Cracking in drifted snow is a red flag requiring reevaluation of your route.

Triggered loose dry sluffs are likely on very steep slopes with loose re-crystallized powder, and some of these could pick up energy and more snow in descent on longer sustained slopes.. Some recent sluffs piled up fairly deeply in gullies below steep slopes.. Although loose sluffs are a generally manageable threat, they could be a problem if you're caught looking up at them from below or are swept off a cliff or into trees. Keep an eye out above and behind you as you descend, so you can move out of the way of any moving snow. Be sure to only expose one person at a time in steep terrain, and move well out of the way and out of terrain traps below your partners before you give the all clear signal....

Remember that LOW danger doesn't mean NO danger. It's a beautiful day to get out into the backcountry, but if you venture blindly into steep terrain, or test your limits on extreme lines, you certainly could trigger dangerous avalanches..