Mark's great video from Sunday's outing clearly illustrates the problem that isn't going away anytime soon. Dense, heavy, Thanksgiving storm snow coupled with several days of raging winds conspired against the strength of our weak, suspect, and structurally challenged early season snowpack. Mark posted an outstanding observation.... more on his travels and insight is found here.

As the snowpack settles it's gaining strength... and that's good news. The bad, in your face news is... upper elevation slopes facing the north half of the compass harbor old October snow (weak layers) and they're producing big, booming collapses (whoomphing sounds) and cracks shooting for hundreds of feet. This is a huge red flag indicative of dangerous avalanche conditions. As a matter of fact, all you need to do is dig down a few feet and you'll clearly see the overall snow structure suggests we've got a sketchy snowpack. This is the type of setup where we don't even have to be on the slope in order to trigger a slide, we just need to be connected to it. What this means is... we can initiate avalanches from a distance. Once triggered, even a small avalanche may break a bit deeper and wider than you might expect, failing near the ground, 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.

It doesn't mean we can't ride, but what I do know is 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, upper elevation terrain facing the north half of the compass.

While there's not an abundance of loose snow available to blow around, the Uinta's are a huge range and I bet there's a fresh drift or two that'll react to our additional weight. Found mostly on upper elevation leeward slopes, there might be a fresh drift or two cross-loaded in a terrain feature like a chute or gully. 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.