Since mountain travel always offers some hazard, it's worth considering ways to limit exposure to that threat. In terms of avalanches... northwest winds have been busy at work the past few days which means 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 drifts are generally shallow, but 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.

Earlier in the week, Ted and I found very weak surface snow on wind sheltered shady slopes. I describe the setup in the viddy above.