Nothing has changed since the beginning of last Thursday's big storm and avalanche conditions remain sketchy. To me, the most important thing is returning to my family at the end of the day and the way to accomplish this is by exercising some patience and allowing the snowpack to adjust to Thursday's onslaught of snow, water, and wind. It's no mystery what's going on here and recent snowpack history reveals that each time our pack has received a big thump of water, snow, and wind, dormant weak layers of snow roar back to life. What I saw Friday and again Saturday confirms this theory. Avalanches are breaking into midpack weak layers or even close to the ground, particularly in terrain facing the north half of the compass where the snowpack is thin and weak. Remember, all we need to do is find one weakness, maybe around a bush or rock that we can't see buried underneath the snow, collapse the pack, and now we've triggered a slide that quickly gets out of hand. So here's the deal... we've got to think about not only the snow riding in, but also the snow we're riding on.

Now here's where it gets complicated- this setup isn't going to magically heal itself overnight, so avoidance is the key for the next few days. Simply avoid being on, underneath, or connected to steep slopes, especially those facing the north half of the compass. And here's your exit strategy... great riding conditions exist on low angle, low elevation slopes facing the south half of the compass. Done and done.

With a good thump Jason B triggered this monster Saturday on an upper elevation ENE aspect. Breaking 4'-6' deep and a couple hundred feet wide, this slide failed on weak, midpack snow and broke to the dirt in several place. Once triggered, these are the type of avalanche dragons that are coming alive in our snowpack.

JG's beautiful pit profile clearly illustrates our current snowpack structure.