Dense, heavy, storm snow coupled with several days of raging winds conspired against the strength of our weak, suspect, and structurally challenged early season snow structure.

The snowpack is settling and gaining strength. As a matter of fact, it'll feel strong underneath our skis, board, or sled. However, we've gotta think not only about the snow we're traveling in, but also the snow we're traveling on and right now, we've got some junk in the trunk. Once triggered, even a small avalanche may break a bit deeper and wider than you might expect, failing on the mid portion of the pack, revealing obstacles hidden under the thin facade of our early season snowpack. Remember- any slide could easily result in a season ending injury if you get raked over stumps, rocks, or deadfall. So the best way to avoid unpredictable avalanche conditions is to avoid where it exists. We can still have a great day by playing in big open meadows and simply staying off of and out from under steep terrain facing the north half fo the compass.

Wind drifts have relaxed somewhat and probably won't be quite as hair trigger as they've been the past few days. Today, you'll continue finding fat, rounded pillows of snow on the leeward side of upper elevation ridges. But because winds blew from a variety of directions and strength, drifting also occurred lower downslope than we usually expect. In addition, strong winds may cross-loaded terrain features like chutes and gullies. You're best bet for avoidance is to simply steer clear of any fat, rounded piece of snow, especially if it looks chalky or sounds hollow like a drum. In addition, look for and listen to clues like whoomphing sounds or shooting cracks in the snow which are sure signs of unstable conditions.

Prior to the storm I observed weak surface snow last week, but now it's buried and hidden underneath several layers of storm snow. This makes for a tricky setup where we can trigger avalanches from a distance or even an adjacent slope.

On Friday, Micheal J found a suspect snowpack structure at 8,500'. More on his travels here.