It'll be a stellar day in the mountains with sunny skies, fresh powder, and great riding conditions. Unfortunately, this weeks storm snow is also leading to deceptively tricky avalanche conditions. Nuking winds last Sunday laid down a strong cohesive slab, which now rests on top of weak sugary facets formed during the early January dryspell. While many slopes are good to go and offer green light conditions, others are just waiting for a trigger to come along and knock the legs out from underneath it.

One thing for sure- persistent buried weak layers trick even the most experienced avalanche people and our current setup is no different. Once triggered, today's avalanches will be dangerous, breaking deeper and wider than you might expect. Low angle slopes not connected to steep terrain above you along with terrain facing the south half of the compass will be the ticket. With these great riding options available, you can avoid avalanches altogether and have a blast today.

Here's the basic setup in wind loaded terrain facing the north half of the compass. Thanks to Ted Scroggin for submitting this great info!

Fresh wind slabs are the most obvious avalanche problem today, but don't get tricked into thinking this is the only avalanche dragon out there. An easily triggered soft slab can quickly get out of hand, especially if it breaks into weaker layers of the snowpack as it crashes down on the slope below.

Ted found this wind slab on a steep, upper elevation wind drifted slope near Bald Mountain Pass.

Cornices have grown and will break further back than you might expect. Best to steer clear of these unpredictable pieces of snow. Thanks to JG for this beautiful picture.