Slab avalanches involving wind drifted snow remain your primary concern today. ENE winds yesterday blew just enough to move snow around at upper elevations, and fresh drifts were formed in odd places on the south and west sides of the compass. They'll be more stable today, but keep an eye out for fresh deposits identified by their smooth rounded, "pillowy" appearance, and look for signs of instability such as cracking in the snow surface. Deeper drifts that formed during the Christmas storm are also still a concern. They'll be stubborn, but if triggered, they'll pack a punch. You'll find these older wind drifts on slopes that face N-E-E

The most recent snow does not seem to have reactivated persistent weak layers as much I had expected however, the underlying snowpack structure is poor, and I still experienced a few collapses this week. The bottom line is that though it's increasingly unlikely, it's still possible to trigger an avalanche 2'-4' deep breaking down into weak, sugary, faceted snow. The danger is most acute in areas of steep, rocky, north facing terrain that has a weak, sugary, underlying snowpack, and I'm going to continue to avoid those areas.