The ongoing strong winds that have and continue to blow have transported snow and, in many places stripped some windward locations back to rocks and brush. All of this blowing snow had to go somewhere and there are large drifts of snow on the leeward aspect of ridgelines and terrain features. The hardness of these wind drifts seemed to increase with elevation, which means they are more likely to allow you to get further onto the slope before breaking above you.

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Cornices are a sign of fresh wind-loading and there were observations of sensitive and large cornices over the last few days.

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Yesterday in the Provo River Drainage Nikki and I found that we were able to trigger these sensitive wind-drifts from further back on ridgetops and that they were failing on a layer of weak snow underlying the newest wind drifts (see video below).

Today's warming temperatures mean the lowest elevation terrain will warm up quickly. Stay off of any slopes where you see wet loose rollerballs or start to sink down into the surface snow on steeper terrain. Your best bet is to head to higher elevation terrain if you notice warming at the lowest elevation. Steep chutes and rocky gully features are places where you may see avalanches start as dry loose and very quickly turn into wet snow avalanches.

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