Yesterday mornings manageable new snow avalanches, bulked up as the day wore on and today you'll find a burlier, more powerful version, and they'll be packing a solid punch. Sensitive to our additional weight and breaking above or even adjacent to the slope we're riding, yesterday's wind slabs are now covered over with fresh snow, making them hard to detect. So the best offense of course, is a good defense. With all the good riding out there, simply steer clear of steep, wind drifted terrain and be on the look out for and avoid any round, fat, pillows of snow. In addition, gather some BETA during your travels. Tweak a couple of road cuts and see how they're reacting and take that information to help you decide where to ride safely today.

Any increase in wind speeds today will quickly bump the danger rating into the HIGH category.

All of our new storm snow rests on a fragile weak layer similar to the one pictured above.

I don't think we've added enough water weight to activate the dormant weak layers buried deep in our pack, but it's definately not a good time to become complacent thinking all we're dealing with are new snow avalanches. Steep, rocky, upper elevation slopes facing the north half of the compass should still be considered suspect. If you're getting into complex terrain like steep, upper elevation, north facing bowls and chutes, think of the worst case scenario and at the very least, have an exit strategy ready to pull out of the queue.

When I think of a place that harbors weak snow and the potential to trigger a deep, dangerous avalanche, Currant Creek Peak always comes to mind. We took a spin out there earlier last week and found mostly supportable snow and a solid snowpack. But with all the great riding options available, there's no reason to tease this slope and roll the dice... this is exactly the type of complex terrain I'd steer clear of.