In our travels through the high country yesterday, Manti-Skyline forecaster Brett Kobernik and I found generally stable snow conditons. As always however, there remain a few things to consider when traveling in avalanche terrain.
Wind Slabs: Extreme, upper elevation, wind exposed terrain still harbors the occasional wind slab. If you push into this type of terrain, carefully evaluate wind rolls, and hard, hollow feeling slabs, and be aware of the consequences.
Cornices: There are a few large cornices out there and you'll want to give them a wide berth if you are traveling along upper elevation ridges where they are present.
Persistent slab: In general, snowpits and stabilty tests have shown a stabilization of the early February, faceted weak layer. We did however, run across an area of very weak snow on a NE aspect around 11,500'. The slope was a repeat running slide path in an alpine bowl, and it appeared to be the exception rather than the rule. But if you find yourself contemplating a steep line on a northerly facing aspect, probe around with your pole for underlying weak facets. If you find them, and there is a slab on top, reconsider your slope selection.
Faceted crystals on a NE aspect at around 11,500'. Crystal close-up photo by Brett Kobernik.