A strong over weak snowpack structure persists, with old, weak snow near the ground and at the middle of the snowpack.

The snowpack has handled the modest stress of the past week well, even with warm temperatures and small amounts of snowfall. Still, the structure persists. While coverage and access remains a crux, the terrain with the most appealing snow coverage to ride—higher, steep, northerly wind-loaded terrain—is where you're most likely to trigger an avalanche. We haven't gotten much feedback—cracking or collapsing—from the snowpack in over a week. However, a quiet snowpack isn't always a stable one.

Moderate to strong southwest winds have been blowing for several days. While there hasn't been a ton of snow available for transport in the Ogden zone, drifts at higher elevations are still out there.

These winds have been effective at building drifts of snow adjacent to ridgelines, as well as on wind-exposed mid-slope features such as gullies, rolls, and rock bands. Watch for changes in snow density; suddenly deeper or stiffer snow likely indicates a wind-loaded area. This will be most common on upper W-N-SE aspects, though wind-exposed mid-elevation terrain is also possible.

Wind-drifted snow avalanches will be effective triggers for releasing a deeper, larger avalanche on our persistent weak layer mentioned above.