Ted and I were near Smith-Moorehouse Monday and in the viddy above, I describe what we found in our travels. Our trip report is found HERE

LOW avalanche danger has us searching for more challenging routes, which of course, leads us to stepping up our all-mountain, trophy line selection. As we step into big terrain there's a few things to consider. Since mountain travel always offers some hazard, it's worth considering ways to limit exposure to that threat. In terms of avalanches... there could be a rogue wind drift or two that reacts to our additional weight. Cross-loaded chutes and gullies are the usual suspects, where both old and new drifts may be large enough to knock us off our feet. In addition, remember that big, open terrain above treeline offers very hard, wind pressed snow and most south facing slopes have a stout ice crust on them. The main hazard on these slopes for skis, boards, or a sled is an uncontrollable slide for life... and that means- sliding downhill and not being able to stop.

Whenever we're in the mountains we wanna be aware of our surroundings, be alert to changing weather conditions, and not let our guard down when we're in avalanche terrain. That means, we're carrying avalanche rescue gear, only exposing one person at a time to hazard when we're in avalanche terrain, and we're considering the consequences of triggering a slide, no matter how small, especially as we step up our big mountain terrain options.