Today's avalanche dragon has a dangerously subtle personality. And no, it's not like the loud obnoxious guy at the office party who's terribly obvious or in your face... and that's what concerns me most about our current setup. Problem is... I don't think you'll see big, deep crowns or much evidence of a widespread avalanche cycle. As a matter of fact, I think many slopes avalanched during the big storm and then got filled back in by wind and snow, making it difficult to determine which slopes slid and which remain intact just waiting for us to come along and knock the legs out from underneath. So we're essentially missing one of the biggest clues to avalanches... and that's avalanches!

It's gonna be tricky because we can ride some slopes without incident, thinking we're good to go, but roll up to steep, wind drifted terrain that didn't slide and now we're staring down the barrel of a dangerous avalanche. However, here's what I do know and make no mistake... this is the real deal and not the type of avalanche problem that we want to tangle with or try to outsmart. Today's avalanches could still potentially be triggered mid slope, low on the slope, or from a distance. Once initiated, they'll break deep and wide and could take out the entire seasons snowpack in some locations, resulting in a potentially unsurvivable slide. That's too much uncertainty for me to deal with so I'm keeping it simple, and avoidance is the only solution. I'm simply gonna ride low angle terrain in the sun and avoid being on or under steep, wind drifted slopes.

JG offers some sage advice.... "Patience is your best friend right now. Play the slope angle game and stay out of the wind zone. Low angle terrain out of the wind zone offers great riding right now even with the amount of new snow we've received." He goes on to say.... "If you're traveling in the wind zone on the north half of the compass the danger is high and you should expect avalanches." More on JG's travels in the Hoyt Peak area found here.

Here's your exit strategy-

Invoke your inner Marley and head over to Trenchtown (Rock :).... you can still get after it and avoid the avalanche dragon today in big open meadows with no steep terrain above or adjacent to where you're riding.