It's been almost a week since our last storm stacked up a respectable amount of snow, water, and wind. The rapid change irritated weak, sugary snow near the ground, making it rather cranky and reactive to our additional weight. In time though, the pack has adjusted somewhat, relaxed a bit, and is becoming comfortable in its own skin. In fact, I suspect there's miles and miles of terrain you can ride safely today. And while I think we're trending the right direction I'm still avoiding upper elevation wind drifted slopes, where all I need to do is find a thin spot in the snowpack, maybe around a bush or rock, collapse the slope, and now I'm staring down the barrel of a moving piece of snow that could ruin my day.