Over the past few days, strong winds have wreaked havoc throughout the mountains. Winds swirled and drifted snow on many terrain features like mid-slope break overs and cross-loaded ridges or gullies. Be on the lookout and avoid slopes where the wind has loaded and where it's possible to trigger a shallow soft or hard wind slab.

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Weak, sugary faceted snow (persistent weak layer) is now buried 1-4 feet deep on almost all aspects and elevations throughout the Wasatch Range. Avalanches failing on a persistent weak layer will likely be 1-4 feet deep and a few hundred feet wide. The most suspect slopes will be northerly facing terrain where it's been recently loaded by the wind.

It's been several days since we've seen an avalanche triggered on this persistent weak layer. However, even the slightest possibility of such an avalanche should lead you to tone down your terrain selection. I will continue to avoid steep north-facing terrain for the time being.