Overnight, the northwest winds picked up and there is plenty of snow available to blow around. Be cautious and on the lookout for new soft slabs of wind-blown snow. I would suspect these new wind slabs could be sensitive to the weight of riders today. Look for and avoid areas where the snow has been drifted or is actively being drifted by the wind.

Remember, any avalanche that you trigger on the north side (shady side) of the compass has the potential to step down into weaker layers below (see persistent slab discussion below).

On slopes facing west to north to east at the mid and upper elevations and upper elevation southeast, you will find weak and faceted snow at the base of the snowpack. This weak snow has been the persistent weak layer in many avalanches across northern Utah for the last ten days.

As the snowpack adjusts to the load (storm snow), the likelihood of triggering an avalanche decreases with time. However, the size and consequence of the avalanche will remain the same. Notice the likelihood and size slider bars to the left.

As time passes, this weak layer will gain strength and become a thing of the past. However, yesterday's recent avalanche in the Wilson Chutes shows this problem still exists. Places where the snowpack is generally less than about 3 feet deep (ski pole), will be the most suspect. This includes areas like the Park City Ridgeline, Millcreek Ridgleline, or lower canyon drainages with a much shallower snowpack.

For me, it's easy. I DO NOT trust faceted snow in any capacity. Therefore, I avoid slopes with this structure until the faceted snow goes away. If I were riding steep terrain, I would stick to the sunny aspects where this layer does not exist.